Illogical and Stupid
by prplemyth
Summary: Percabeth? I think YES! A bunch of one-shots from Annabeth's perpective, and we get her side of the story in a bunch of different scenes.
1. Last Chance

a/n: Hey lookie here! I'm back! Sort of…Pretty much I've fallen in love with Percy Jackson and company, and I've been reading the books again. When it hit Annabeth and Percy's first kiss, I knew I had to do something from Annabeth's point of view.

It's incredibly short, but I hope it's worthy of publishing for the first time in like a year Let me know if you like it – if I get enough people interested in this, I might continue doing little one-shots of Annabeth's point of view in certain Percabeth-ish sort of scenes.

"Put your cap back on!" shouted Percy with a panicked look on his face, "Get out!"

The idea of leaving Percy – nothing could have felt more wrong. I'm embarrassed to say that I sounded like a mouse when I squeaked out, "What?" and tried to modulate my voice more and sound almost sophisticated when I said, "No! I'm not leaving you!"

When I said that, I felt something well up in my chest. Expecting it to be fear, I was shocked when it was something else – but that was illogical. It was absurd. It couldn't happen. Nope. I wouldn't let it.

Percy's eyes bored into mine, and I tried not to let him see how afraid I was for him.

"I've got a plan," said Percy, confident as always, "I'll distract them. You can use the metal spider," I shuddered at the mere mention of that awful creature, "Maybe it'll lead you back to Hephaestus. You have to tell him what's going on."

"But you'll be killed!" I shouted, wanting to do nothing more than wrap my arms around him, to get the two of us somewhere where I could – where I could tell him what this feeling meant. What am I talking about? There is no feeling. Shut up, feelings, daughters of Athena think with their heads.

"I'll be fine," said Percy, his eyes pleading with me to listen, "Besides, we've got no choice."

I wanted to kill him. I wanted to absolutely kill him. That was the feeling that was welling up in my chest. That's all it was.

It was unfathomable that what it actually might be is…No. This is illogical and stupid. I'm a daughter of Athena, for heaven's sake. I wouldn't do something as ridiculous as…As…

I couldn't help it. I took a step towards him – I didn't mean to, I didn't know what I was doing, it's like my body was moving out of control of what I was telling my brain to do – and I leaned in and kissed him. As much as my head was telling me this was a mistake, that feeling in my stomach told it to shut up. For once in my life, I was going with my emotions. It was wrong, it was stupid, it was…It was right.

This was so not like me. I'm not the girl who falls for the wrong guy.

But really…Was Percy the wrong guy?

No.

And this might be the last time I see him – I wouldn't let that happen without, I don't know. Some mention of letting him know how I felt. That thought jolted me out of the kiss that I would have been content with continuing forever. We could be killed.

Trying to not think of what I needed to do next, I said, "Be careful, Seaweed Brain," put on my invisibility cap, and stood there for a few seconds, enjoying the dazed look on Percy's face.

I did that. Cool.

But, as soon as the feeling of my heart overtaking my head came, it left. I couldn't stay here. I was going to be killed.

And I had to leave Seaweed Brain behind.

a/n2: Thanks for reading!


	2. The Huntress' Advice

a/n: So…I was bored before my 1pm class and I didn't feel like studying for my finals, so I decided to write a little something for my Annabeth series.

This is set during the summer right after the Battle of the Labyrinth, when Percy describes his and Annabeth's relationship as "skirting around each other", and that he "was glad to be with her but it also kind of hurt, and it hurt when he wasn't with her too." So I decided to write how Annabeth would be feeling at this time.

And who better to ask for advice than –

"Thalia, you know I can't."

"Annabeth," said Thalia, her bright blue eyes boring into mine, "Annabeth, how do you know he's not going to hurt you like Luke did."

I turned away from her and crossed my arms. "Thalia, it's not like that."  
"It's not like what?" asked Thalia, trying to keep herself calm. She could see that she had offended me.

"I…" I couldn't explain it. "No."  
Now Thalia was genuinely befuddled. "No…What?" she asked, stepping in front of me. "Annabeth, it's exactly the same situation!"

I shook my head and refused to keep eye contact with her. "No," I mumbled, "No, it's not."

I appreciated that Thalia made this journey to Camp Half Blood to talk to me, but the subject was one I'd rather not discuss.

"I'm not going to become a Hunter, Thalia," I said with a sigh.

"Why not?" asked Thalia, "No death! The only way you can be killed is in battle – a great honor! You're immortal! You don't have to deal with…boys." Thalia's eyes darkened at the last word, fury seething behind her eyes.

"Just because Luke hurt you," I said, finally making eye contact with her, "Doesn't… Doesn't mean Percy will hurt me."  
"But that's just it!" said Thalia, "Luke KNOWS he's hurting people. But he thinks he's, I don't know, doing it for a noble cause. Percy doesn't even realize what's going on here, and you're just getting confused and hurt over this. Come on, stop thinking about a guy, you're a daughter of Athena, for heaven's sake! You're freaking Einstein. Think logically! What would be the most sensible?"

I thought about that for a moment. I hadn't told anyone that Percy and I had kissed that day when he disappeared. I thought he had died, and I didn't want anyone to feel worse for me than they already did. I had a feeling that they suspected something more than what I was willing to reveal, but I was definitely not ready to tell anyone.

I had just admitted it all to myself after that stupid and illogical kiss. I wasn't ready to admit it to other people, let alone Percy.

Thalia, however, had a knack for weaseling information out of people when they wanted to hide it the most.

"I loved Luke," said Thalia, "LOVED, Lady Artemis," she called, responding to some unknown call that I hadn't heard, "Loved, with a D, as in past tense, as in can't stand him anymore, want him to drown in a river now," Thalia sat there, waiting for something, and visibly relaxed when whatever she was hoping for happened, "Anyway. But I loved him – I don't know if it was just because we were together for so long, the three of us, running from the world. Running from everything. I was twelve, he was fourteen, I can't be sure if it was anything real. But I felt something for him. I was never sure if you could catch it – but then when I see your face any time someone mentions his name…Annabeth, you need to give up."

"What?" I asked, startled. "I…I thought we were talking about P-Percy! Not Luke!"  
"Don't try to pull the Fleece over my eyes," joked Thalia, "You have the same sort of affection for Percy as I did for Luke. But it's not worth it anymore."

"I don't…I don't think it's…Percy is different than Luke."

"HAH!" exclaimed Thalia with a wild look in her eye. "There! You admitted it?"

Confusion washed over me, a feeling I was rarely used to, and a feeling that irritated me. "What? What are you even talking about? Are we talking about Percy or Luke? And…Wait, what?"

"I, about me, was talking about Luke," said Thalia, "I, about you, was talking about Percy. I think I garbled my words somewhere in there."

I carefully said, "Okay…? I still don't have any idea what you're trying to say."

"There's something with you and Percy that is different than just a regular friendship. Different than what you felt for Luke."

I stared at her, not sure where she was going with this, and guardedly said, "That's because Luke is infested with the essence of Kronos. I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I have a feeling that Percy's pretty much just…Percy."

"There!" exclaimed Thalia, "Right there! You have that look when you say his name?"

"Look?" I asked, turning away from Thalia again and walking towards the river, "What look? There wasn't a look. That's ridiculous."  
Thalia scoffed. "Now, now, Annabeth. You may be a genius, but you're a horrible liar. You looked like you were completely in love with Percy when you said his name – just his name! And don't think I didn't notice that you looked at the water right afterwards."

"Coincidence!" I claimed. The statement seemed forced to my ears, like I was lying, and there was also the fact that my voice squeaked on the last syllable. I was not winning this battle. Which is not a good feeling for a daughter of Athena.

"Is not."

"Is too."  
"Is not."  
"Thalia, you're acting twelve!" I said, stomping my foot and glaring at her.

"And stomping your foot is better?"

"I don't even understand what you're trying to do here!" I asked, resisting the impulse to stomp my foot again, "What do you even want me to do? Admit I like Percy and give him up? Or just…I don't know what you want me to do here! Tell Percy I like him? Give up on boys and join the Hunters? What?"

"I don't know what you want to do or what I want you to do," said Thalia, "I just want you to admit it. And then decide to join the Hunters."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, fine, whatever. Can you promise not to tell anyone? Seriously."  
Thalia smiled. "Tell anyone what, Annabeth? Whatever are you talking about?"  
"You know what I'm trying to say."  
Thalia shook her head, laughing lightly. "Annabeth, you've barely admitted it to yourself. Now you need to admit it to me so I can shake you out of it and have you join the Hunters."

"NO!" I shouted, panic rising, "No, I can't admit it…I…I don't want other people to know."

"I think they have a hint, Annabeth."

"Nope. They can't."

"They do."  
"I think I'm in love with Percy." I stared in horror in front of me, as if the words were floating in front of me, mocking my weakness. I didn't mean to say that.

Ugh, it was just like when I kissed Percy! I didn't mean to say it! That stupid feeling in my gut took over and…Stupid! I was being illogical and stupid!

It seems that is a pattern when I'm thinking of Percy.

"Well, yeah, I know, but at least you said it yourself. Okay, so now it's time for someone to smack you out of it."  
"No!" I said, backing away from her, walking towards the river. "I don't want to be smacked out of it," I sighed, finally admitting it to myself, letting that feeling well up in my chest and wash over me, "It's…I don't want to be a Hunter, Thalia."

"He's only going to hurt you."

"No he won't!" I said, turning to her. "Would you hurt me?"

"Annabeth, it's different. I know you have the whole Percy-and-Thalia-are-the-same-person theory, but when it comes to romantic feelings, it's different. I can't speak for him. But I can speak as a person who's been in this situation before," she sat down on a log and patted the space next to her. "Luke did nothing but hurt me. I was in that tree, or I was that tree, something, I guess, waiting for him to help me somehow. But he never did. He sort of saved me, sure, but that was unintentional. He saved me to destroy everything and everyone else…He… Annabeth, I can't stand to see you hurt again."

"I'm hurting when I'm not with Percy, Thalia. Percy's not trying to ruin the world."

Thalia nodded. "Yeah, I can see that. But as a Hunter, you'd never have to worry about that."

I shrugged. "They don't let you into the Hunters if you admit that you have feelings for someone."

"Well, if you change your mind or no longer have those feelings, you're in. Like my situation. Artemis saw that I needed something to get me off of thinking about Luke, and being a Hunter was perfect."

"This isn't going to change, Thalia."

"Why not?"

I stared out into the sea, an inanimate reminder of all my adventures with my Sea Weed brain. Thalia understood it, but I don't think she remembers how it feels. Besides, I was nearly three years older than she was.

It's been three years since I met Percy. And the feelings had only grown stronger.

"Because I…I love him, Thalia."

"No you don't."

"Wait," I said, glaring at her, "How come you knew it before, but now that I'm saying it the second time you're saying I don't love him?"

"Because this time I'm trying to convince you that you shouldn't," Thalia put her head in her hands, "Seriously, Annabeth, what's so good about him?"

"…He makes it so I can't think straight. For once in my life, when I'm around him, I don't just think anymore. I let myself do what I want on impulse. He messes with my head, and, I don't know, I kind of like it."  
"Perhaps that is his briny sea salt smell?"

I punched Thalia in the arm. "He doesn't smell like the gross part of the ocean. More like the breeze. And the sense of tranquility, and permanence. And…And…"

By the time I shook myself out of the stupid trance I was in, Thalia was staring at me, a look of minor horror and major amusement. "Okay, wow, I think I believe you now – this isn't going to change any time soon. I've never seen you like this over a person. Actually, I don't think I've seen you like this over anything before. I'm still worried he's going to hurt you, though. Or maybe it's not even him who will hurt you. What about your parents?"  
I stared into the sea again, "I think Poseidon will be a little bit more lenient than my mother…I'm going to have to…I don't know. Maybe I can explain it. I'm worried, though, the night that…" I couldn't think of the right way to explain the night that Luke fell off the cliff, or that Zoe died, "The night you became one of Artemis' Hunters, my mother spoke to Percy. What if she told him something?"

"Well," said Thalia, "I have a feeling that Percy's never going to let something that another person tells him, even one of the most powerful goddesses, stop him from doing what he really wants." Involuntarily, I smiled at this. "Oh gods, look at your face, you're smiling at the fact that Percy would break the rules for you."

"I am not!" I said, but I could tell my argument was weak. Thalia smiled at me.

"What are you going to do if he kisses you for the first time and then changes his mind or…I don't know, decides that he doesn't want to risk it, because of your parents or the dangers or, I don't know, any kind of reason."

I squirmed in my seat. I definitely didn't want to discuss the kiss with anyone, but I was worried Thalia already guessed. Sure enough, Thalia said, "Oh my gods! You kissed, didn't you!"

For a moment, as Thalia sat next to me on the log, despite her silver shirt, jeans, and silver circlet, her bow slung across her back, and the knowledge that she was immortal, it almost felt like we were normal teenage girls talking about normal teenage problems. I'd always wondered what that would be like.

"N-no, no we didn't kiss, no. No."

"Too many no's, and you can't lie if your life depends on it."

My silence answered for me.

"Oh my gods! How was it? When was it? TELL ME EVERYTHING!"

I opened my mouth to tell her off, to explain that it was none of her business, but all of a sudden I heard someone call my name.

"Annabeth?" called Percy, my heart leaping as I heard his voice say my name, "Annabeth, where are you, Chiron needs all the heads of the cabins for a meeting."

I turned to Thalia, but she was already getting up to leave. "I'll leave you two love birds alone," she said as she gave me one last hug before she left. "I think you'll make the right choice, Annabeth. But I'll miss you."

"What do you mean?"

Thalia shrugged, "Artemis told me she could tell you'd never join the Hunters. And you never will. I guess this was my last try."

Tears sprung to my eyes. "I'm not…I'm not losing you, am I? I still get to see you, right?" I asked, familiar panic rising in my stomach. I always hated thinking of losing Thalia again – now it seemed a nightmare was coming true.

Luckily, Thalia shook her head, "I can come visit. But I'm not sure how often," Thalia turned to leave, and before she ran off into the woods she said, "But remember, Annabeth, you're head's not always right. And this time…Maybe you should stop thinking so much."

Percy appeared from the side of Cabin, sauntering over with a goofy smile on his face that made my stomach do an Irish tap dance accompanied by advanced gymnastics.

"Hey Annabeth, come on," he said, sitting where Thalia once was on the log. He looked out at the green and blue waters. "Why are you staring at the ocean?"

I shrugged. "It's beautiful. Well, handsome, really. And inexplicable and untamable and confusing and tranquil and…" I let my sentence trail off. I looked at him sideways, thinking how everything I just said described him perfectly and wondered if I was describing the sea or Percy, and thought to myself, "Because it's the closest thing to you."

a/n2: So apparently when I'm procrastinating studying for final exams, I write Percy Jackson fanfiction. I'm the weirdest college kid ever. Review and tell me what you think! 


	3. Unbreak You

a/n: Okay, so the song is like Percy singing to Annabeth, but the story is written in Annabeth's perspective. Just to clear things up. I hope you like it – it's kind of unorthodox to add a songfic into a collection of one-shots, but hey, I've never been normal.

Also, I hope no one gets mad at me for using direct quotes from the book. It should be obvious by now that, anything that I post up here, does not belong to me. Seriously. I wish I'd written Percy Jackson, though…

The song is called, "Unbreak" by Ryan Star, and it is phenomenal. Check it out!

Enjoy!

I wanna know your whole skin, every mark, every inch

I saw that half blood, Ethan something, come up behind Percy, and in a moment, I knew something horrible was about to happen. I would not allow Ethan to come anywhere near Percy – this was not going to happen.

I jumped in between Ethan and Percy, who was still fighting gallantly. The knife pierced my upper arm, near my shoulder, and I cried out in pain. Percy turned around and heard my cry – the fear on his face said it all. I couldn't allow Percy to give up just because of me, though. The titan said something, and I couldn't let Percy do something just for me, "Percy, don't," I choked out quietly. Percy called for his pegasus, Blackjack, and the last thing I remembered was flying through the air, leaving Percy behind. Nothing had felt so wrong in my life, but I couldn't fight the pain forcing my eyes closed.

I wanna heal your pain, don't be scared, let me in  
Lay yourself down, I will comfort you, I will comfort you  
Until the stars fall around us

I saw Percy run into the room where I lay, and my heart leapt – he was here. Unfortunately, the look on his face made me worried that I looked worse that I thought.

He walked over to me, and said, "Annabeth," as I tried my hardest to smile.

"Poison on the dagger," I tried to say, "Pretty stupid of me, huh?"

Will said something about nectar, but I was too busy focusing on Percy to do anything but nod.

The burning pain in my arm shook me out of that. I was happy to find that Percy's hand was in mine, and he sat there with me as I squeezed it to Hades and back.

Once Silena, Will and the Stoll brothers left, Percy knelt next to me, and I turned me head towards him. I thought about how cute he was when he was worried, his silly little eyebrows scrunched together.

The look on Percy's face made me realize that I had apparently said that out loud.

"You are not going to die while I owe you a favor," Percy said, holding my hand and brushing the hair out of my face, "Why did you take the knife?"

"You would have done the same for me," I said quietly, hoping it was true.

Percy's expression let me know it was. He asked me how I knew his Achilles' spot was there, and I told him that I didn't know. "I just had this feeling you were in danger. Where…" I trailed off, not sure if I wanted to know this, but I decided to ask anyway, "Where is the spot?"

"The small of my back," said Percy turning away from me.

"Where?" I asked, "Here?" I gently placed my hand on his spine, and I felt his muscles tense slightly at my touch. It made me smile a little bit. He moved my hand slightly down – that was the spot that linked him to mortal life. And only he and I knew where it was.

For every dream that you lost, every tear that it cost  
I will, I will unbreak you  
All the pain that you feel, let this moment be real

I will, I will unbreak you  
I will undo the hurt 'til it feels like I'm the first  
I will unbreak you

Fighting beside Percy had always been my preferred way to go down – but I never thought I'd have to save his semi-girlfriend from a helicopter spiraling to its demise. Why did she always have to appear at the most inopportune moments? It reminded me of how Luke broke his promise – after that kiss with Percy, I expected things to never go back to just friends. And now he has this girl – this new mortal girl. What was I supposed to make of her?

Percy seemed surprised that I could fly a helicopter – the look on his face, a mix of awe, surprise, and something I couldn't identify, and said, "I didn't know you could fly a helicopter."

"Neither did I," I said more coldly than I intended, "My dad's crazy into aviation. Plus, Daedalus had some notes on flying machines. I just took my best guess on the controls."

"You saved my life," said Rachel. Just hearing her voice sent me into a fury.

"Yeah, well…let's not make a habit of it," anger coursed through me – why did she always have to show up, make me feel like Percy was messing with me? "What are you doing here, Dare? Don't you know better than to fly into a war zone?"

"I – " Rachel glanced over at Percy, and anger flooded through me, "I had to be here, I knew Percy was in trouble."

I was not okay with the way she said Percy's name. "Got that right," I turned on my toes, "Well, if you'll excuse me, I have some injured friends I've got to tend to. Glad you could stop by, Rachel," I said the last word with anger and pain and just the whole injustice of it all.

My older sister, Jess, began to walk beside me. "Annabeth, what WAS that?"

I shrugged and tried to brush her off, ignore her, but she stayed close. "You're jealous."

I turned around to her and rubbed my sore arm, "I am not jealous. I just don't like her."

"Why don't you like her?"

"I…" I, for once in my life, couldn't find the words.

Jess smiled at me knowingly. "One of my sisters speechless. I've only seen this when love comes around."

"Love?" I asked, sputtering out the word. This was almost as bad as when Thalia asked me. I didn't…I didn't know what I was talking about back then. I didn't love Percy. I just…I was recovering from all the stress of the Battle of the Labyrinth. That's all.

Jess smiled and gently put an arm around my shoulders. "I was just like this when Travis and I started going out. Don't worry," she said, giving me a one handed hug, "It's not a bad thing to let someone in."

I wish I knew you when eyes were wide and innocent  
If I could cut through time, I'd hold you close, make you mine  
Stay where you are, and I will come for you, I will comfort you  
Until the stars fall around us

"Perseus Jackson – if you wish it – you shall be made a god. Immortal. Undying. You shall serve as your father's lieutenant for all time."

I wouldn't be able to take it if Percy became a god – my heart nearly stopped at the thought of it. I couldn't wipe the look of horror off my face. I couldn't lose him – I…I couldn't feel the pain of losing someone so important right after losing Luke for good.

My mother looked at me as she said she approved, as if this was a gift to me as well.

It was anything but.

Percy glanced at me, and I couldn't meet his eyes – I felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest.

The second he said no, my mouth dropped, but, since I was in front of my godly relatives, I put my hand over my mouth – I couldn't believe it.

Everyone was still talking, but I was too busy trying to keep tears of joy from starting. I wasn't going to be losing my Seaweed Brain.

Later that day, after the first kiss, before I could think, we went underwater, and everything seemed perfect. If I could have stayed there forever, it wouldn't have been long enough.

For every dream that you lost, every tear that it cost  
I will, I will unbreak you  
All the pain that you feel, let this moment be real

The second we came up from the water, I broke away from the kiss.

And I ran away.

I didn't know why I was running, I didn't know where I was running, I just knew that, for some reason, I was getting out of there. And quick. I didn't want the perfection of Percy and I to get ruined – I couldn't let the memory of the underwater bubble burst.

Just like the memories of the good times with Luke are now tainted with his death.

I couldn't let this good memory be ruined.

Percy, for a moment, waited. Then I heard his footsteps behind me, his voice calling out my name.

When I reached the river, I realized I couldn't run any further.

And it wasn't like me to run at all. Percy walked in front of me.

"Annabeth," he said, quietly, "What did I do wrong?"

I will, I will unbreak you  
I will undo the hurt 'til it feels like I'm the first  
I will unbreak you, I will unbreak you

"Go away, Percy!" I said through my tears – I didn't know why I was crying. When did I start crying?

My stupid heart was messing with my stupid brain again. It was illogical to be crying. Illogical and stupid. I was ecstatic right now, and for some reason I wasn't allowing myself to be happy. I didn't know what was wrong with me, I didn't know why I was incapable of holding myself together.

Percy's eyes pleaded with me, "Annabeth – Annabeth, tell me, what's wrong?" He took my hands in his, but I pulled my hands out of his and backed away. "No," I said, stepping away, "No, no, no."

From behind Percy, I saw the river move in larger waves. Percy was getting angry.

"Annabeth, I swear on the River Styx, I don't know why you can't just…Please, tell me what's wrong? Please? You kissed me – and everything seemed okay before the kiss. I have…I have honestly no idea what I did wrong."

I collapsed on the log that a year before I had sat on next to Thalia, telling her about my feelings for Percy. The memories of that conversation weren't doing anything but making me feel worse.

Percy sat down next to me. "Annabeth, did you not…" Percy took a deep breath, "I…Was I wrong when I thought you – when I thought you meant something with that kiss? In…Did you change your mind?"

I shook my head violently. "Percy…I'm scared that…I'm scared you're going to hurt me. I'm scared that you're going to do what Luke did and end up…Breaking promises. Changing your mind. And I'm worried that these good memories will be tainted with bad ones later on."

The shock on his face surprised me – if anything, I expected him to vehemently deny it. He looked like he was about to fall over.

"Percy…?" I asked tentatively.

He took my hands again, and this time I refused to let myself pull away. With his left hand, he brushed away the tears that streaked my cheeks, and brushed some of my long blonde hair out of my face. "Annabeth Chase," said Percy, "You moved in front of a knife for me. You kissed me when you thought I was going to die. If I didn't love you after all of that, I'd be an idiot."

"You love me?"

Percy blushed, a rosy red spreading across his cheeks, followed by a smile. "Of course I love you, Wise Girl, I thought you would have known that by now. I think I've probably loved you since the moment I woke up, four years ago, and you were feeding me ambrosia," he dropped his head with a nervous smile, "I've never seen anyone as beautiful as you since then."

I didn't know what to say to that, "Oh. Really?"

Percy nodded – he was acting very uncharacteristic, focusing on my face intensely, not getting distracted like he usually would. He was staring into my eyes, but it wasn't uncomfortable.

It was then that I realized something – I really did love him too.

"I love you too, Seaweed Brain."

Percy pulled me into his side and gave me a strange, one armed hug. "I can't tell you how long I've waited to hear you say that."

We sat there in silence for a few moments, and I realized something. Percy wasn't Luke. Percy would never do to me what Luke did to all of us.

"You won't hurt me," I said, a statement, not a question.

Percy shook his head and kissed me on the forehead. "I will never hurt you."

I leaned into his side again, then looked up into his green eyes. "And you're not going to change your mind."

"No," said Percy with a light laugh, "No way. Leaving a beautiful, brilliant, incredible girl who can not only tolerate me but actually loves me? That would be illogical."

"And stupid," I added, poking him in the side.

"And stupid."

"Well," I said, leaning in to kiss him, "At least you learned something from me."

For every dream that you lost, every tear that it cost  
I will, I will unbreak you  
All the pain that you feel, let this moment be real  
I will, I will unbreak you

The end of the summer came too quickly – but luckily we were staying in the same town for once. As I rode to the my new home, a boarding school a twenty minute walk from Percy's home, I stared out the window. New York – the real world. I'd be able to live here without worrying about anything. I felt whole again – not like there was a bandage over the pain of losing Luke, but like the pain was replaced by joy. It made me smile to think that Percy did that. A best friend and a boyfriend all rolled in one, with a little bit of the sea for some unpredictability.

I didn't have to think with just my head, and I didn't have to assume that everything would always go wrong anymore.

I looked over to my left, where my hand was in Percy's and where he had the biggest grin on his face.

"What?" I asked, smiling.

"I'm excited that the two of us can almost be normal teenagers from now on."

I smiled brightly, nearly bouncing out of my seat. We stole a quick kiss, hoping all of Argus' eyes were focused on the road.

Normal teenagers in normal New York.

Well.

At least for now.

We can make it alright, you and me here tonight  
I will, I will unbreak you  
For every dream that you lost, every tear that it cost  
I will, I will unbreak you  
I will undo the hurt 'til it feels like I'm the first  
I will unbreak you


	4. Strawberry Fields Forever

a/n: First of all, whoever Anonymous is, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your constructive criticism. Thank you so much.

On another note, I wish I could give everyone who has reviewed this story a massive hug. My favorite thing about is the fact that you get instant reviews on your work – constructive criticism and compliments both mean SO much to me. The fact that I haven't gotten any flames makes me really happy too. Thank you everyone – so much.

So, after the last one, I'm going to…How should I put this. Make things a little less saccharine.

This is set the summer after Percy turned 16, and I haven't read The Lost Hero in a while, so I can't remember if anything specific happened in it that changed the camp.

Enjoy!

"THAT IS NOT FAIR," said Percy, chasing after me. I dashed by the mess hall, and chanced a look behind me. This always happened when we would try sparring, and he would always be annoyed when it did. He looked pretty stupid with half of his shirt and half of his pants sliced off. I stumbled over myself as I sprinted across the camp, weaving in between campers who were used to this. I couldn't keep myself from laughing, and I always got a little klutzy when I was cracking up.

Unfortunately, I wasn't watching where I was running, and slammed right into Blackjack.

"STOP HER, BLACKJACK!" shouted Percy as I tried to run around the Pegasus.

"Um, please move?" I asked Blackjack, but, although I couldn't read his mind like Percy could, the fact that he was sidestepping me gave me a little hint that he wasn't going to do what I wanted him to do.

"Fine then!" I said with a smile. Percy was almost on me now, so I ran backwards nearly meeting him, to try and get the perfect distance away to pull off my trick, and did what always makes his mind blank to buy myself a little more time.

I kissed him.

When I pulled away, I laughed at the look on his face. I could remember each time I made his face blank out like that – the time at Hephaestus' forge, by the river, in the bubble, that really uncomfortable sobbing moment where I was temporarily a mess, and various times throughout the school year.

Percy was still smiling stupidly when I turned around and vaulted over Blackjack, who was doing what I could only assume was the horse version of laughing, and continued running. For a moment, I heard raucous laughter from the other campers who had experienced my little trick before, and shocked gasps from those who hadn't.

I heard someone, probably one of the Stoll brothers, scream, "GET IT, JACKSON!" and plowed into him as I ran past him. It was okay for me to exploit my effects on Percy's consciousness, but not okay for Travis. People laughed even harder when Travis stumbled into a picnic table – I never bumped into anyone hard enough to hurt them, just enough for them to bump into something.

Plus. There were little kids at camp. Well, not little kids. Pre-teens. But still, he should watch his language.

Eventually, I heard Percy scream, "I JUST SAID IT WASN'T FAIR TO DO THAT, AND YOU DID IT AGAIN. IT IS NOT FAIR."

His words just made me run faster and laugh harder. This was my favorite part of our relationship – not just the kissing, not just having a boyfriend. The ability to be complete idiots around each other, being able to mess with each other, and having it feel completely natural. I never have to worry about looking stupid around Percy – because I always knew that stupid was one of the parts he liked about me.

I was by the fields of strawberries now, and skidded to a halt right before I face planted into the ripe red berries. I checked behind me – Percy was nowhere near me. I dashed behind a tree before Percy rounded the corner, and stood there, trying not to burst into peals of laughter.

Percy sprinted, faster than I'd seen him run since the summer before. The look on his face when he realized he wasn't going to be able to stop himself from plowing into the field was too much for me – I burst into laughter.

Percy heard my laughter, and lost focus on trying to stop himself and he tried to see where I was He lost his balance, landed on his stomach, and slid, face first, into the field. Lazily I walked over to the field with my hands on my hips, and laughed at him.

"You need to stop thinking you can catch me," I said, extending my hand to him to help him up. Percy rolled over, his entire front covered in strawberries and red juice. His Camp Half Blood orange shirt was now closer to red, and his khaki shorts were a very stylish shade of pink. The leaves and strawberries tangled in his hair, though, were what really sent me into peals of laughter.

Percy glared at me jokingly. "Yeah, yeah, sure, this is hilarious. Thanks. I thought we agreed that you wouldn't do that anymore."

"Well," I laughed, with my hand still extended, "You agreed. I did not – HEY!" Percy had grabbed the hand I had extended and pulled me down onto the ground next to him, and I landed face down in the strawberries.

"That was uncalled for, Perseus."

"Don't call me Perseus."

"Don't pull me face down into strawberries."

I propped myself over on my elbows, and looked at Percy, looking genuinely god like. He had his hands behind his head, his arms, face and legs tanned to a light brown even though it was only the end of June. His green eyes were closed, but his face was turned towards the sun, taking it in. He had this little smile on his face, the smile I loved, and his black hair, a little bit too long, spread out across the ground. I didn't realize I was staring at him until he opened his eyes and said, "Okay, the fact that I look like a jar of jam is your fault not mine."

I could feel myself blushing. "Um, sorry," I said with a nervous laugh.

"You were looking at me again."

"I was doing no such thing."

Percy propped himself up on his left elbow, smirking at me. "You so were. Did you notice I'd been working out?" He tried to show off his biceps on his right arm – which, admittedly, I had noticed – and ended up falling forward, rolling onto my arm.

Which, in turn, lead to me losing my balance and falling face first into the strawberries again.

"Really?" I asked, my face still pretty much in strawberries.

"I'm sorry!" said Percy, laughing hysterically. I rolled over, and this time it was his green eyes looking at me.

"Annabeth, I have something to tell you." His tone was serious, and I was worried he was going to tell me something bad – like he was going on another quest, but wasn't choosing me to come along, or that my mother had told him that she changed her mind and wanted him to stay away from me.

I waited for a few moments before I asked, "W-what is it, Perce?"

Percy moved over slightly, and suddenly, before I knew what was happening, he was leaning over me, Riptide at my throat, a grin on his face.

I couldn't believe I fell for this.

Again.

Percy pressed his forehead against mine and whispered, "You didn't keep your promise, so I tried your tactic of distracting the opponent," He kissed me lightly on the nose, "Just for future reference, it works on you just about the same as it does on me." He pulled his sword away from my throat and gave me a light peck on the lips.

Percy was the one to realize that my breathing was weird and uneven first. "You're doing that funny breathing thing again."

"Shut up."

"I won."

"Shut up."

"Using your distraction technique."

"Shut up."

"Make me."

So I pulled him towards me, kissed him.

And I thought I did a pretty good job shutting him up.

a/n2: I hope you liked this! And I know the "shut up" "make me" *kiss* thing is wicked cliché, but it's one of my favorite things to write. Thank you for reading! And if you liked it, let me know!


	5. Dignified As A Teddy Bear

A/N: I'm on a roll with these plotlines! I'm having so much fun procrastinating for finals as well!

So this takes place at the start of The Lightning Thief.

Oh yeah. We're going old school.

The very beginning of Percy's half blood adventures involves – Annabeth carrying him down a hill?

And thanks to all who have subscribed/favorited/reviewed – it's more than I could ask for, and I appreciate it more than you could know.

Enjoy!

"ANNABETH!" shouted Chiron. He galloped over to where I was sitting, studying my book on Greek architecture – I had received it from him for my twelfth birthday, six months before.

"Chiron," I asked, marking the page I had left off at, "What's going on?" I looked up at him with a smile on my face.

It wasn't until I saw his face that I realized that there was a problem, and the smile fell off my face. I set down the book behind me. "Whoa, Chiron, what's going on?"

The look in his eye worried me – it wasn't fear, it wasn't anger. The look in his eye was shock.

"Annabeth, come quickly, there's...Another has arrived." Chiron galloped off, and it was all I could do to keep up with my shorter legs. And, you know. My two to his four.

"What," I said, gasping for air as we skidded to a halt by the Big House, and I saw, up Half Blood Hill, my friend Grover dragging a kid down the hill.

Without thinking, I sprinted to the two of them.

Grover was gasping for air. "He tried to help me…Then…Then he passed out, I don't think he could take it…But now I can't…" Grover fell over, landing on top of the boy he was carrying. I looked up at Chiron.

"Who's this idiot?" I asked, laughing a little bit.

Chiron looked at the boy with dark hair, then to me, then back to the boy with dark hair. "I don't know," he said picking up Grover and setting the young satyr onto his back, "But I do hope you can help him come to the Big House."

"Do I have to?" I whined lightly. The kid wasn't the shortest guy in the world, and I had a feeling he might be taller than me. I wasn't sure if it would be easy for me to carry him.

The look on Chiron's face, however, whipped me into shape. "Okay, fine."

I had been right – the kid was slightly taller than I was, and heavier than I would have wanted. His eyes fluttered open – a bright green – and he asked, "Where…Where's my mom? Who…Where…?" Before I could answer or even look over at Chiron, though, he passed out again.

"Um," I asked Chiron, "Not to be rude, but a half blood calling for his mommy?" I asked, trying not to giggle.

Grover forced himself to sit up – I hadn't even realized that he had woken up.

"He just lost his mother," said Grover, gritting his teeth, "She was taken by the Minotaur."

Immediately, I felt shame wash over me.

"Oh," I said, trying to avoid Chiron and Grover's eyes, "I…I didn't know. I'm sorry. I thought…I just thought…"

Grover shook his head, and then winced. "Ow. That hurt. Note to self: don't shake your head. What was I saying? Oh right. I don't know, Annabeth, he's an incredible fighter. I think you might want to show him a little more respect."

Trying not to get too angry, I responded with, "Okay, I didn't know! I didn't mean to be rude, I just –"

"Annabeth," said Chiron, "Your temper."

"Right," I said, taking ten deep breaths, "Sorry. But seriously," I said, shifting the boy so his arm was draped over my shoulder. "Do you think he could be…?"

"Annabeth, I thought I asked that we not have to talk about this when each and every camper joins?"

"But come on!" I said, the boy slipping a little in my arms so I was more dragging him than carrying him. I would fix that later, "What if he is the demigod of the prophecy?"

Chiron sighed. "I would hope that he isn't," said Chrion, "Since you know what that would mean for him."

I sighed, and the prophecy rang in my head like a bell, and stayed there like a Katy Perry song. I looked down at the kid I was lugging – I decided that I probably wouldn't want him to be the child of the prophecy. He seemed like a nice boy. I didn't think it would be fair that he would have to die.

Or have his soul reaped.

Either way, it would be quite the predicament.

"But what if…"

"Annabeth, we'll discuss this later."

We'd reached the doorway of the Big House, and I shifted the boy again. He partially stood up, and opened his eyes, shaking me off of him, and he collapsed on the wooden porch, startling me as he became dead weight. I stumbled a little bit, and tried to make it look like I didn't just drop the new kid on the floor when Chiron turned around.

"Really, Annabeth?"

"He was awake for like three seconds and then passed out again!"

"He's the one," I said, looking down at his blinking eyes – he had partially gained consciousness. Again, "He must be."

"Silence, Annabeth," Chiron said, peering down at the boy. The boy's green eyes flickered open for a moment.

Chiron said, "He's still conscious. Bring him inside."

I struggled to pick him up. "While I'm carrying this kid all over Hades and creation," I said, trying to remember how I picked him up the first time, "Do I at least get to know his name?"

"Percy," said Chiron, "Perseus Jackson."

"Perseus?" I asked, knowing my eyes lit up.

"Annabeth…" said Chiron with a warning tone.

"I know, I know," I said, trying to rig part of Percy's shirt so it would work like a pulley, "It's not the time."

"I heard we have a new camper?" asked Luke, stepping onto the porch of the Big House. "Wow, you dropped another camper, Annabeth?" he asked, watching me pick Percy up and prop him over my shoulder again.

"Oh, be quiet," I said rolling my eyes.

I lugged Percy into the infirmary part of the Big House.

"Can you help him to his cot?" Chiron asked.

"More like carry him," I muttered under my breath. When I laid Percy down on the bed, he threw his other arm around my shoulder. Startled, I didn't know what to do.

"Um..." I said, looking up at Chiron for an answer about what to do. I tried to move his arm from my shoulder gently.

"NO!" he said, his bright green eyes opening for a moment, "Don't leave me!" he called. His arms wrapped around me and pulled me down next to him on the bed, losing consciousness again with a viselike grip around me. Not knowing exactly how to react with dignity, I flailed and glared at Chiron and Luke, who were watching the scene intently.

This was not how I wanted Luke to see me.

"Could, oof, could one of you help me here?" I asked, trying to remove Percy's death grip of a hug around my shoulders. "Wow, what a hero, he's treating me like a teddy bear."

Chiron and Luke, however, just smiled and watched. "Annabeth, kiddo, you're stuck there until I've got a camera," said Luke with a burst of laughter.

Chiron sighed and, with a small laugh, decided to take mercy on me, moving Percy's arms and helping me out of the very small hospital cot.

I tried to regain composure and smoothed my long blonde hair out, while straightening my shirt. "Ahem, thank you," I said, glaring at Luke, "For helping me out of that one. I really appreciate it."

Luke leaned against the wall, casual and cooler than everyone else like it wasn't hard for him, "Hey, no problem kid," he said as he threw his arm around my shoulder. For some odd reason, this sent my heart skittering a bit. Then, he ruffled my hair, which stopped the skittering immediately.

I hated when he did that.

I pushed Luke off of my shoulder, and said, "Okay, Chiron, what do you need me to do now?"

"Monitor him," said Chiron, like it was the most natural thing in the world, "It's a weekend. You deserve some relaxation time, right? Sit next to Percy, make sure he drinks the nectar and eats his ambrosia. Call me if he wakes up – and talk to him if he is awake, try to keep him conscious until I get here."

I nodded. "Can I…Can I at least get my book first?"

"Of course," said Chiron, "However, I had your brother grab it for you." Malcolm, a redhead two years older than me, popped out from the doorway.

"Delivery for Annabeth Chase?" he joked, handing me the book. I smiled. Malcolm and I always got along the best – probably because we were the only two children of Athena who shared the obsession with architecture.

The next couple hours I spent pushing ambrosia into Percy's mouth like a baby. He opened his eyes sporadically, but onece he woke up. Each time his eyes opened, the brightness of his eyes would startle me.

"What will happen at the summer solstice?" I asked him, positive that he would know and that he was the child of the prophecy.

"What?" he asked, sounding akin to a frog.

I heard Chiron's voice – he'd be here any moment. If I wasn't going to get an answer from Percy, I'd get an answer from no one. "What's going on? What was stolen? We've only got a few weeks!" I said. Despite the fact that I'd only been in the Big House for a few hours, I picked up on a lot. Luckily, they hadn't realized that I was picking up on a lot. There are benefits to having incredibly good hearing.

"I'm sorry," said Percy, his eyes fluttering closed, "I don't…"

Chiron's voice sounded through the door, and he knocked gently. I jumped, nearly knocking my book off my lap. I shoved pudding in Percy's mouth – gut reflex, I guess, I don't know why I did it – and called, "Chiron, come in quick! He's speaking!"

The centaur walked in quickly. I poked Percy – but he was dead asleep. Again.

I looked up at Chiron. "I swear he spoke."

"What did he say?"

"Um," I didn't want to admit that I had asked him questions about the oh so secretive problems, "He asked for his mother again."

Chiron nodded and looked down at Percy sadly. "Well, I do hope he isn't the child of the prophecy."

"Why not?"

"Well," said Chiron, "I do believe I've grown rather fond of the boy."

A/N2: One thing that's a little difficult when it comes to fanfic: you always need source material. Sometimes, it's difficult to find said source material. For example, it is difficult for one to find said source material when one is moving out of a college dorm and has all of the Percy Jackson books packed away in a bag.

Then one realizes that she forgets how one of the scenes go, and has to dig through a bag full of books and movies and clothes until she finds it.

Yes. This story took a lot of alternative and non-writing effort. :)

Thank you for reading!


	6. Baby, You're A Firework

A/N: So this little one-shot here has to do with the Demigod Files mini-book story. It's set in between the end of the battle of the labyrinth, and before the end of the summer that year. Enjoy!

I couldn't believe him. I've been hinting it for weeks now – bringing up the Fourth of July fireworks, talking about how cute Beckendorf and Silena were, asking him what he was planning on doing for the fireworks.

And the idiot still hasn't gotten the hint.

"You planned this?" Percy asked, his mouth dropping open, "You planned this whole thing just to keep us out of the game?"

It was flattering that he thought that I had come up with the whole Beckendorf attacked by ants, getting the dragon fixed, etc, etc. I was the daughter of Athena, but even I couldn't have orchestrated something so incredibly convenient.

Especially since Silena and I ended up capturing the other team's two strongest, bravest, most handsome fighters.

Objectively speaking, of course.

"Percy," I said, with my hands on my hips, smirking at him, "Seriously, how could I have planned it? The dragon, the ants – you think I could have figured all that out ahead of time?"

According to the half dumbstruck, half in awe look on his face, he thought just that.

I looked over at Silena, who forced her hand over her mouth so she wouldn't laugh. I just pursed my lips and tried to prevent myself from cracking up.

"You – you little –" Percy was unable to come up with a proper name to call me, but the look on his face sent me into peals of laughter.

Silena grabbed Beckendorf's hand, who only protested verbally.

Percy, however acted like a seven year old whose mother wouldn't buy him a piece of candy. "This," he said, trying to push my hand off of the collar of his shirt, "Is ridiculous! We went through all of that," he twisted so I would let go, but I instead just ended up wrapping my arm around his neck and getting him in a headlock, "And – ow, my head – and now the two of you…Beckendorf, will you help me?" whined Percy.

I poked him in his side, which made him giggle like a school girl and wiggle out of the way. "No one's going to help you, Perce," I said, bumping him with my hip, "Beckendorf's too googly-eyed at Silena to do anything, and I, honestly, am having fun making you a prisoner for the first time. Because it means that I win."

"You do not!"

I pushed Percy into the little jail, "Yeah, I think I do."

Silena gave Beckendorf a little kiss on the cheek, and flounced off to the front line again, and I started to follow.

Before I lost my nerve, I looked back at the two boys and winked, "See you at the fireworks?" I said to Percy, running back into the woods before I could hear his answer.

Silena looked at me with this giddy smile plastered on her face. "Oh my gods."

"What?" I asked sheepishly, pretending to be cleaning my knife, "What is it?"

"Oh my gods!" said Silena, clapping her hands, "OH MY GODS! YOU ASKED HIM OUT!"

"N-no I didn't!" I stammered. Did I? Did I want to?

…Yes.

"Okay," I said, "Fine, I kind of, sort of did."

I paused to let Silena scream her little heart out with glee.

"Yes, yes, I know, you're happy. But," I said, shrugging my shoulders a little bit, "I kind of wish he had asked me."

Silena threw her arm around my shoulders, "Aw, well, Annabeth, he's a boy. He needs like certain death or the possibility of mutilation to actually make a move."

I grumbled, remembering how I had to be the one to kiss him when he almost died in Hephaestus' forge.

"Well," said Silena, sensing my annoyance, "At least you have the fireworks now to figure it out!"

Fourth of July. D-day.

I had allowed Silena to do her version of a makeover right before the fireworks, but I forbade her from doing anything too disgustingly girly – if she even tried to pull the wool over my eyes like she did to Clarisse on her first date with Chris, I would make her eat my shorts.

I sat down on the floor of the Aphrodite cabin, and Drew, this girl who always made me uncomfortable, was staring at me like I was doing something wrong.

"Um…Can I…Do you need something?" I asked guardedly – Drew and I never got along.

"You're sitting on my flats," said Drew, looking at me as if I had been sitting on poo instead of her shoes.

"Oh," I said, shifting slightly, and reaching behind my back. Sure enough, I pulled a gold and rose colored shoe with these nerdy looking bows out from under Silena's bed. "Here you are, Drew."

Drew snatched the shoe out of my hand. "Thanks, Annabeth." But she didn't sound very thankful.

Drew strutted out of the doorway, and I silently hoped she would slip in her heels on one of the gauzy scarves that lay all over the ground.

Silena, similar in appearance to her half sister but different in personality entirely, walked into the room with not a strut but a graceful dance almost. "Hi, Annabeth!" said Silena, "Let's get you all glamorous, shall we?"

I smiled, "Okay, do your worst," I said with a laugh.

The devilish look on Silena's face worried me. "Oh," she said, putting her hands on her hips, "You should not have said that.

"Wow," I said, looking in the mirror once Silena was done with me. I was worried I'd look like a completely different person but – I looked like me. Just with the volume turned up.

"See?" said Silena, pushing a stray, blonde curl behind my ear, "You don't need to cake on makeup and hair spray and perfume to look gorgeous. When you're as pretty as you are, just a little enhances what you have!"

I was touched. "Aw," I said to Silena, "Coming from the daughter of the love goddess, that means a lot."

Silena gave me a little hug, careful not to bump my hair, "It's true, Annabeth. You're gorgeous."

She pointed to a pile of casual summer clothing on a chair, "Your specially chosen outfit is right there," she said, "But I also grabbed one of your Camp Half Blood shirts and a pair of your jeans, just in case you didn't want to go all out on the outfit."

Silena left, and I thought for a moment how grateful I was to have her as a friend. Most makeover givers wouldn't give you the option to go back to your original outfit.

I picked up the outfit that Silena laid out for me and, surprisingly, it wasn't as garishly girly as I expected. It was just a pale purple tee shirt with laces on the sides and slightly fluttery sleeves, and a pair of dark wash jeans, and my regular converse. I had been expecting some horrendous pink dress with ruffles and feathers and poofy-ness. I hated poofy-ness. This outfit, however, was definitely okay.

To my surprise, I decided to wear the outfit that Silena had chosen for me. Before I left the cabin, I took one last look in the mirror. Luckily, Silena had only put a tiny bit of mascara and a small bit of lip gloss on me for makeup. She'd also woven a bright blue ribbon into a French braid – a pretty effect I wouldn't have thought of on my own. The braid pulled half my hair back, and it was tied off at the end of the braid, letting the rest of my hair and the ribbon fall in curls down my back.

I took a deep breath, and walked out of the cabin, only to see Silena standing there. She burst into applause.

"YOU LOOK GORGEOUS!" said Silena, "Oh, I'm so happy that you chose that top, it looks great on you! I would kill for your arms, Annabeth."

I laughed. "Thanks, Silena. Now don't you have a date to get to?"

Silena nodded rapidly. "Percy should be in his cabin! Go say hi!"

I rolled my eyes. Of course I would have to do all the work.

Silena ran off to the Hephaestus cabin, and gracefully leapt up the steps, landing on the top one without wobbling at all. A light knock, and when Beckendorf opened the door, she leaned against it gracefully. Beckendorf looked like he had just see paradise.

I sort of wished I would be able to make Percy have that kind of reaction, but the look on his face each time that beat him in a spar was just the same.

I straightened my shirt and walked up to the Poseidon cabin, and knocked on the door.

"Percy?" I called, "You there?"

"J-just a second!" Percy called. I heard a thump, someone say, "OW!" and then the door opened.

Percy was standing there with this absurd look on his face.

"…Hi?" I said, trying not to laugh. It was hard, though. Percy looked like someone had walloped him on the back of his head.

Percy shook his head and tried to lean against the door, but missed and slammed into the door frame. At this point, it was near impossible for me not to laugh. Percy shook his head and apparently made the decision to just stand on his two feet.  
"What is WRONG with you, Seaweed Brain?" I asked in gasps.

"Uh, nothing," said Percy, straightening himself out. "So, uh," he said, running his hand through his dark hair, "Fireworks?"  
"Fireworks."

I felt myself blushing a little bit – maybe this actually was a date. Blushing? WHY WAS I BLUSHING?

Percy and I walked next to each other, and his hand bumped mine a couple of times. I wasn't sure, but I thought he might be trying to hold my hand. I stopped swinging mine, but I guess he had given up.

"So," I said, trying to break the awkwardness, "How… Are you…Today?"

Percy looked over at me and shrugged his shoulders, "Better now that you aren't slamming a sword into my shoulder."

I laughed. "Okay, come on, we were in battle, it's how things roll." I bumped him with my hip, "It's nothing personal."

"I really like your hair like that," he said. The look on his face made me think that he didn't exactly mean to blurt that out.

"Oh," I said, suddenly feeling uncharacteristically shy, "Th-thanks." Stupid Perseus Jackson, making me all wimpy and girly.

He managed to take my hand, and my heart leapt – I was finally convinced this actually was a date.

I looked up and him, and smiled. "Took you long enough…" I said under my breath.

"What?" Percy asked me.

"Nothing, nothing."

"Oooh!"

"Ahh!"

"Oooh!"

I had to admit, I was ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the fireworks this year. Someone had managed to make the fireworks act out the most heroic battles of the Battle of the Labyrinth – the part where Briares attacked Kampe was exceptionally impressive.

Silena and Beckendorf were sitting right in front of Percy and I. We were still holding hands.

Silena and Beckendorf, however, we kissing quite passionately, and it was making me feel a little bit uncomfortable.

I leaned my head on Percy's shoulder and, to my surprise, he put his arm around my waist.

"I'm," said Percy, "I'm glad you asked me to come with you to the fireworks," he whispered into my hair.

"I'm glad I did too."

I lifted my head up, looked into Percy's bright green eyes –

And promptly fell backwards off of my seat, and hit my head on the ground. From what it felt like, it was probably a rock.

Now I knew what they meant by 'seeing stars.' Come to think of it, before that I didn't think I'd been hit on the head that hard before.

"Annabeth!" said Percy, "Oh, my gods, are you okay?"

I sat up, giggling a little. "I'm okay," I said with a laugh, "I just –"

And that's about when I stood up and fell back down again.

"Annabeth?" said Percy, "Oh, jeez, um. Here," said Percy, picking me up and putting my arm around his shoulders. "Come on, Annabeth, don't hurt yourself."

"This is what I…The time…You came to camp, and fell over, and…Yeah."

Percy started laughing a little bit. I didn't understand why.

"Wha' suh funny?"

"Annabeth, you hit your head pretty hard there."

"You're really cute," I thought to myself.

"Um, thanks," said Percy, blushing a little bit.

Apparently I said it instead of thinking it.

"How freakin' hard did you hit your head there, Wise Girl?" laughed Percy. The two of us reached the Big House, and Percy laid me down on a little hospital cot.

"Wait here," said Percy, helping me sit up a little bit, "I'm going to get Chiron, see if he can helps you."

I nodded. "This was a good date, 'cept when I fell over," I said with a giggle.

Percy nodded. "Yeah," he said with a small smile. "Yeah, it was."

A/N2: Well that was absolutely ridiculous. Whenever I hit my head a little too hard, I'm not even kidding you, that's how I get. I start giggling about how absurd it is that it hurts so much and that I'm so stupid, so I tried to see if I could make Annabeth do the same thing.

That was quite fun to write : )

If you liked it, let me know!


	7. Dummy Attack

_A/N: This is based about a month before the start of The Last Olympian._

_It's a tad sad…But fear not! I shall deliver a funny one soon if that is what people would like! Let me know!_

"Freaking Rachel," I said, hacking away at one of the dummies that we practice on for sword fighting. I blocked each of the wooden spokes that spun around the dummy, accidentally hacking one of them off with my knife.

"Stupid Percy." I spun around and accidentally stabbed my knife through the face of the dummy.

I let go of the blade, staring at it sticking out of the dummy's head. It was a little amusing in a gruesome sort of way.

My mind went back to Percy – our kiss at the forges and that one date the summer before at the fireworks. This year he had chosen to return home for the Fourth of July. I'd hoped that he would pick to stay here and maybe even ask me this time, but instead he went back home. The whole year I spent in San Francisco, hoping he would ask me to visit or would surprise me with showing up, but no, he just wrote me emails and instant messaged and blah blah blah.

It was nice, and more than a lot of people did, but it wasn't the same as him being there with me.

I rolled my eyes. Thalia was right. Guys are useless.

Maybe I should reconsider the hunters – Percy really did seem to be messing with my head, whether he knew it or not.

I pulled the knife out of the dummy's head and practiced my evasion maneuvers, making sure I still remembered how to jab out of a somersault, catch a blade over my shoulder, dodge a weapon without a shield.

I still could do it, but now I did it fervently, with a new anger, remembering exactly why I needed to keep these skills up.

Luke.

I glared down at the knife. Memories coursed through me as I stared at it, remembering who gave it, and what he became.

Seeing him for the first time as a tiny seven year old.

Learning from him, not Thalia, exactly how to wield a knife to best a bigger opponent.

Hearing him call us a family for the very first time.

I squeezed my eyes shut – these memories did nothing but hurt me.

But it was my deepest fear that I would lose another to Kronos.

I laughed without mirth. Luke now was Kronos – losing someone to Kronos would be losing someone to Luke as well. They were one and the same, a genuine evil that I couldn't make myself understand.

For once, for the first time in ages, I let the reality of it all wash over me. One month from now, on Percy's sixteenth birthday, he would make a decision that would put him with the likes of Hercules or with the likes traitors like – I couldn't make myself think the name.

But I had to.

Luke. Luke is now a traitor. He's not the boy who was my big brother, who cared for me when I was afraid, who handed me the knife, knowing that I would be brave with it.

He called me clever. He cared about me.

And now, I thought, feeling a hot tear roll down my cheek, and I spun to attack the second dummy, slashing and hacking as if it was Luke himself, Luke was the one person who created this horror show, this pain. All these deaths have come from his decisions. All the rage, all the betrayal, all the hurt that had coursed through me in the past three years was being forced into this straw, wood and cloth thing. It was as close as I would ever get to Luke himself, and I had to make do with the fact that there was no other opportunity to release my anger.

I sliced off another wooden arm, letting the tears fully flow now, thanking the gods that all the other campers were off training with Chiron in archery.

People let Percy and I have our space for these few months, knowing how close we were to the situation.

I spent my days viciously attacking dummies or sparring with some of the best sword fighters, and any spare time was spent reading up on architecture information, making new dummies, or trying to teach myself how to draw.

Unfortunately, Percy's idea of space was cozying up to Rachel.

The thought sent an image into my mind of my Seaweed Brain leaning into Rachel, kissing her when he should be kissing me, and the tears began pouring faster.

"It's not fair," I said to the dummy I was mutilating, "Luke and Percy and Rachel and Thalia and Lee and Castor and AGHH!" Rage flowed through me again, and I slammed the dummy in the stomach with my knife, pushing the blade all the way through, and ripped it up through its straw head. I stared as it fell into two pieces, each falling to the side of it.

With two dummies damaged by me already, I supposed it was time for me to return to the dummy I had chopped an arm off of, even though it would lead to less of a challenge.

I spun it and closed my eyes, counting to three, until I went at it. It was always interesting to attacked without sight, without knowing where your enemy would come from.

It was a skill I thought might be useful in this war.

I made a genuine effort not to completely mutilate this dummy, but apparently I didn't try hard enough. I was still breaking off far too many of the arms.

I heard footsteps behind me and without a second thought I spun, catching Riptide on the edge of my blade.

I froze, praying he hadn't been there for long. The last thing I needed was for Percy to see me crying like this.

"Annabeth?" he asked quietly.

"I thought you were with Rachel," I said, facing away from him until my eyes were dried, "Weren't you planning on going to the beach?" I was surprised to hear that my tone wasn't bitter at all – I really was curious.

And part of me wanted him to have stayed behind because he didn't like Rachel anymore.

Yeah.

Wishful thinking.

Percy shrugged, "I changed my mind. I wanted to…I don't know," I lifted my head to meet his eyes, "Spend a few days at camp before going back to…to my mom."

"You were going to say Rachel." It wasn't a question – it was a statement. And it hurt, but I supposed that he needed a taste of mortality. So he could decide exactly what lay outside the borders of the camp for him to save.

Percy opened his mouth as if he would say something, then closed it.

"Yeah," I said swinging my blade in my hand. "I know."

"No, Annabeth," said Percy, trying to keep up with me as I walked to the dummies and began to half heartedly bash it on the forehead with the flat of my blade, "It's…I don't…You're…And we…"

"We?" I asked.

"I don't even know. I can't be in the camp all the time, Annabeth," said Percy, running his hands through his hair, "I just…I can't be constantly reminded that everyone here is keeping me from finding out about the prophecy, and that I might have to fight Luke, or, I don't know, even die before my sixteenth birthday."

I winced, remembering exactly what the prophecy said, and it was strange how accurate Percy was.

"See?" said Percy, "You just made this awful face, and I don't even know why. I can't watch that all the time. Sometimes I need a little bit of pointlessness. It's the only way for me to cope."

"I guess I understand," I said, lying through my teeth, "But it's not my place to tell you. I wish I could, but –"

"You can't."

"I'm sorry."

Percy sighed. I did the same. I couldn't figure out why he couldn't just cope with me instead of Rachel.

But I refused to beg for him to stay here – it was up to him. And if all goes wrong, I'll just join the hunters.

"I'm just…It's hard," said Percy, sitting down on the group and leaning against one of the dummies that I hadn't managed to mutilate.

"It is."

"I want it all to be over."  
"Yeah," I said, sitting down on the ground next to hi, "I know."

"We'll be able to figure it all out soon, Annabeth," said Percy, giving me a sweet little smile.

"We've only got a month until…" I let my sentence trail off – neither of us liked talking about this.

Percy's apologetic expression changed again – he now looked worried, about ten years older, with troubles far beyond his years.

"Yeah," said Percy, "Unless, you know, I die before then."

"You can't die Seaweed Brain," I said, lightly kicking his foot from where I sat, "I'd kill you."

_A/N2: A short one, I know, but I don't like doing super long sad stories._

_Okay, my least favorite thing to do EVER is be all greedy about reviews, but it's really my main motivation for this. Constructive criticism, comments, listing your favorite things about the story, your favorite characters or plot points or lines, that's all. Over one thousand people have checked out this story – I would love to know all of your input, and your ideas for other Percabeth scenes I could do._

_Thank you so much for reading!_


	8. Interruptions

_A/N: This is set between "Dummy Attack" and the beginning of "The Last Olympian," and I credit Jamie Daughter of Artemis with the idea._

_To all who reviewed: thank you SO MUCH! Keep up with the love and I will keep up with the chapters! Ideas, comments, constructive criticism, favorite lines, anything. It's very appreciated!_

_Warning: This is absolutely absurd. But you'll most likely laugh._

"You," I said, laughing lightly, "Can't beat me."

Percy turned to catch the side of my blade, but he was starting to fade – I could tell. "Of course I can," he said delivering a blow I could have seen coming from a million miles away.

I twisted my sword, bending it up to catch Percy's sword, and spinning to end up right next to him, and I swung my sword around, hoping he would lose grip.

"I'm impressed," I said with a little half smirk, "I was expecting you to drop your sword."

"Oh," said Percy as we circled each other, "Maybe I've gotten better than you."

He stepped towards me, but I darted out of the way. "Yeah," I said, dodging him with little effort, "Sure."

Percy started to laugh. "Oh yeah? You think you're going to win."

I shrugged. "No."

He was surprised. "What?"

"I," I said, going on the offense and forcing Percy to begin defensive strategy, which he wasn't as good at, "know I will win." Percy opened his mouth to respond, but I was attacking hard. I couldn't fight the smile on my face – I always had the most fun sparring with him, because he got so frustrated.

I think it had something to do with the fact that I always beat him, unless we were near water. Then I lost almost exclusively.

But I refused to call that anything but cheating.

"Why," gasped Percy, stepping backwards and moving quickly to keep up with my sword movements, "Can't I use water?"

"Because," I said, spinning behind him, "It's cheating," I began to bring my sword down, expecting him to miss this blow, but he swung Riptide over his shoulder and blocked my sword.

His biceps?  
Yeah.

I noticed them.

However, they did not distract me like I was momentarily worried that they would.

Much.

"Annabeth," groaned Percy, "Um, not to sound like a wimp, but it kind of hurts to keep my arms like this."

"Oh? Does this mean you are giving up?"

"Hell no."

"You're going to regret that." I gave him a moment to recover, and he spun the sword in his hand in the way he always did when he was sure he was about to win.

It never worked.

I smirked at Percy. "Aww, you're doing the sword swinging thing, aren't you?"

"What do you mean?" said Percy. The two of us began to circle each other again, and there was a new spark in the battle.

"Well," I said, mocking Percy by swinging the sword in the same way he did, "I'm Percy Jackson!" I joked, speaking in a goofy voice, "I'm the hero of everything! I swing my sword!"

"Well," said Percy, dodging my blow, "I'm Annabeth Chase!" he said, the two of us sparring a little less violently, but both obviously trying to win, "I'm a –"

"Daughter of the goddess of battle strategy," I said, smirking and twisting Riptide out of his hands and pushing the side of my borrowed sword up to the side of his throat. I was close enough to see the gold and blue flecks in his eyes. "I always win."

Percy was breathing heavily, and for a moment the two of us stared into each other's eyes.

Being me, I refused to back down first. I refused to think that there was something behind this and I refused to think about why I didn't want to back down.

Something passed between us – a split second feeling.

"She's not you," said Percy. Whispered, really – I barely heard him.

"She – what?"

"She's not the same…Us…You and me…It's more."

"Percy…" I breathed. I tried to say something, something in response to what he just said, something to tell him…Anything, really.

Percy closed his eyes and began to lean in, and my heart began pounding out of my chest.

"JACKSON. CHASE. WUDDUP?"

Damn Travis and his inopportune timing.

Percy and I jumped away from each other so quickly that I nearly sliced his head off with my knife, I fell backwards over an ill placed tree root, and Percy landed hard on his rear.

I felt like I could kill Travis. Percy could have been JUST about to tell me exactly what Rachel meant to him, and what I meant to him.

He said we were more than what he and Rachel were.

And Travis interrupted him before he could say anything final.

I glared at Travis, and if I could I would be hitting him with sword.

"Whoa," laughed Travis, sensing the tension, "Did I interrupt something?"

"No!" Percy and I said at the same time.

I turned to him. He was looking at me, with a panic that probably mirrored mine.

What had been about to happen?

"Whoa, guys," laughed Travis, "You two look like someone just walked in on you, like…Yeah."

I could feel my face going red, and once I shook off the embarrassment and shock, I stood up.

I heard Percy whisper, "Oh dear…"

"Travis," I said, with a smile on my face that obviously wasn't amused, "Do you consider yourself to be a fast runner?"

Travis, confused, shrugged his shoulders. "Um. I don't know. Sure?"

"Let's test that theory out."

Travis looked at me, and I stifled a laugh as realization crept across his face. "Oh sh –" and he took off.

"I'LL RETURN TO THIS SPAR IN A FEW MOMENTS PERCY," I shouted behind me. I just needed to kill Travis first.

"SHE'S GOING TO KILL ME!" shouted Travis at the top of his lungs. "SHE'S GOING TO SKEWER ME AND FEED ME TO THE HARPIES!"

Chiron and my half brother Malcolm were the first two people who we passed. Chiron began to laugh incredibly hard, and Malcolm essentially fell over because he was laughing so hard.

"THIS IS NOT A LAUGHING MATTER!" shouted Travis as he vaulted over a spilled trash can near the tables, "She is going to kill me!"

"Damn straight I am!" I said, breathing hard.

The next people we sprinted past were Chris Rodriguez and Clarisse. Chris, for the first time, I saw smile.

That was a good thing.

"Clarisse!" said Travis, hiding behind her. I stopped in front of them. "Clarisse, she's going to murder me! Slice me into tiny little pieces! Mince meat!"

Clarisse moved out of the way and pulled Chris by the hand, while I sprinted past the two of them towards Travis.

"That's what you get for pissing off a daughter of Athena!" laughed Clarisse.

Travis momentarily tried to continue hiding behind Clarisse, but I just tapped my foot until Clarisse managed to run into the Ares cabin and he was left without a bodyguard.

"Okay," said Travis, backing away from me slowly, heading towards the Hermes cabin. I wasn't holding my sword, but the look on his face made me think that I must have looked pretty intimidating even without it, "Annabeth?" said Travis, "Um, you know, I shouldn't have said that, I, um, I'm sorry."

"Are you getting killed by a girl?" Connor asked, walking out of the Hermes cabin, "Again?"

"She's not just a girl! She's…Annabeth!"

I paused, "What is THAT supposed to mean?"

"Just, uh," said Travis, "You're scarier than most girls."

"Backtrack real quick there, bud."

"You look like you're about to burst into flames," said Percy, coming up next to me and stepping next to Travis.

"Look," said Percy, "Travis, apologize."

"Why?"

"Because you irritate me," I said, trying not to smile.

"Annabeth?" said Percy, looking around.  
"Yeah?"

"You're drawing a crowd."

I looked around.

Huh.

I guess he was right.

"Oh. Well would you look at that. I'll, um," I stepped backwards and blew my blonde hair out of my eyes, smiling at everyone, "I'll go back to sparring with Percy."

"Yeah you will," said Connor with a wink.

It didn't take a genius to understand what he meant by that.

And, since I wasn't able to actually get back at his brother, I wanted to get back at Connor.

This time, however, it was Percy who acted. He stepped up to Connor, swinging his sword as Connor seemed paralyzed with fear. The sword swinging looked a lot less silly and a lot more intimidating now.

"Take it back," Percy turned to Travis, "You too."

"Sorry!" the two of them squeaked at the same time.

The small crowd started to laugh. "You two are terrifying," said Katie Gardner, "I'm glad you're on our team."

I looked over at Percy, "Eh. He's okay."

Percy and I walked back to the sparring area, and he was swinging the sword again.

"Um," he said, laughing a little bit, "Exactly why did you freak out so much at Travis?"

"He was being stupid. It's not like he, I don't know, actually was interrupting anything? Right?"

For a split second, I saw something pass across his eyes – like he was about to say something – and I instantly regretted what I said.

What if he changed his mind about everything?

"Right," he said with a laugh, "Right, of course, Travis is just stupid. Connor, too. Th-that's why I made him take it back. Not because I thought it made you mad or anything. Or that I was worried what you thought or anything."  
"No. Of course not. And I didn't chase after Travis because I was embarrassed or mad at him or anything. Or that I was worried he interrupted something. Not at all." I felt myself blush lightly.

Percy was blushing a little bit too. "Right."

I pulled out my sword, ready to spar again, this time without interruptions. "Let's see if this time you can beat me."

_A/N2: Fluff. Percabeth. Giggles. Love._

_I hope you liked it – if you did, let me know!_

_And happy holidays!_


	9. Christmas Gifts

_A/N: It's a Percabeth Christmas fic! I hope you like it, and, no matter your religion, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season with lots of love, friends and family._

_It's completely fluffy, and a little mushy even at points, but hey, it's Christmas!_

_As always, thanks to all who have reviewed/favorite'd/alerted. You guys rock!_

"It's so cute that she's going to be born on Christmas!" said Percy with this stupid little grin on his face.

"IT'S A GREEN LIGHT," I yelled at him, "JUST. DRIVE."

Everyone warned me that being in labor would hurt. Everyone told me that it would be a pain like nothing I'd ever experience. But, no, I told them that I knew what I was in for, I'd been in battle. I had been under the sky, for Athena's sake.

Hell, I thought I knew everything.

Why didn't I just listen?

"How are you doing over there, Annabeth?" asked Percy with that stupid grin on his face still.

"Agonizing pain, thank you, and how are you, Mr. Jackson?" I said sarcastically.

"Quite excited and I can't wait to meet our daughter, Mrs. Jackson."

Despite my agony, despite the fact that I'd been Mrs. Jackson for a few years now, my heart still leapt when I heard him call me that.

I was Annabeth Jackson, and I was about to give birth to our baby girl.

And I was in incredible pain.

The only thing that could compare was holding up the sky.

Actually, I thought, that was quite close to this.

"Hey, Percy?" I said. His eyes were on the road, but he was doing that bizarre bouncing thing he did whenever he was excited for something.

"Yes, my lovely wife?"

"Remember holding up the sky?"

We reached a red light. "Yes," he said, wincing, "Unfortunately."

"This reminds me of that."

Immediately, Percy looked at me sadly, like he was feeling my pain. "Oh dear gods."

"Exactly."

"I wish I could make it hurt less."

I laughed, wincing at the pain, "Oh, no you don't."

"Why?"

"Because for the next anywhere between four hours and four days, I will be squeezing your hand damned hard and yelling at you for doing this to me."

Percy took my hand. "Come on now," he said with a shrug as he pulled into the hospital parking lot, "We're demigods. We can do this."

I squeezed his hand lightly. "May the gods help us."

Percy helped me walk in, and placated me as I grumbled about the unfairness of women having to be the only ones having to deal with labor pains.

"Hi," Percy said to the receptionist. It had been fifteen years since we first met, but right now he looked as anxious as the first day he went to get his prophecy, "I'm Percy Jackson, and this is my wife Annabeth. She's in labor."

The receptionist rolled her eyes. "And?"

"And," I said, staring her down, "I am in pain. Get me my doctor. Now."

"Please?" added Percy. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and kissed me on the forehead.

"We're going to meet our baby soon, Annabeth, just take a deep breath, it'll all be worth it."

I nodded. "Worth it. Right. Baby. Daughter. Soon. Deep – OW!"

Suddenly I felt like I wet my pants. "Oh," I said, rolling my eyes, "Goody," I turned to the receptionist, "Hi, can you have my doctor get here sooner? My water just broke."

Percy chuckled.

"Oh, what?" I asked, a smidge annoyed.

"Well," he said, "Usually if you were having water issues I could help. But this is out of my hands. And I just find it quite bizarre."

"You're hilarious. Seriously. Get your own talk show."

Dr. Daisy Bellevue, a daughter of Athena who we had known for years, walked out with a clipboard, "Annabeth, Percy! Come, come, we have a great room for your delivery." The two of us walked into the room. It was larger than I expected, and had two windows.

It would have been a great set up for a hotel room but, since I was about to give birth, a view into the outside world meant a view in, and that was something I really didn't want the whole planet to see.

Percy flipped on the lights and helped me into the little cot. I was sitting up, breathing deeply.

"Windows," I said, sounding like I was squeaking. I didn't want to sound pathetic or whiny, "Close them."

Percy jumped up and closed the blinds, "Here, I'll leave them a little open. Just for some natural light."

Dr. Bellevue, or Daisy as we usually called her, walked in with a smile. "You know," she said, catching me at a moment where things hurt slightly less, "I find it amusing how you didn't choose a water birth."

Percy and I laughed, "He's the son of Poseidon," I said, "Water is not my thing." Suddenly, there was a more painful twinge than before. Before I could stop myself, I said "This hurts," whining more than I wish I was.

"Don't apologize," said Percy, rubbing my back.

"What?" I asked.

"You are not allowed to apologize for complaining. You're in labor."

"But," I said, pausing to wince and breathe through it, "I hate whining!"

"Annabeth, if you didn't whine I would think there was something wrong with you," said Daisy, "The pain is natural and so is expressing it. I find that most women feel better if they scream, yell, or whine through it. The toughest usually yell the most," she tapped her pen on her lip, "And we could use – never mind."

I looked at her questioningly. "What…?"

"Well, demigods usually – oh, gods, I hate explaining this – usually can't metabolize the epidural. It just doesn't have the same effect as it usually does on mortals."

I shook my head after staring at Daisy for a few moments. "I'm sorry," I said with a slightly delusional little laugh, "I just had a weird hallucination that you said I couldn't use epidural. But that's absurd."

"Sorry," said Daisy with an apologetic shrug. "No epidural."

Percy looked at me, worried I was about to explode. "Annabeth…"

"No," I said with a deep breath, "No, it'll be okay."

"It'll be fine, Annabeth," said Percy, giving me a light kiss on the lips, "You can do this."

"Yeah." I said, trying to sound more confident than I was. "Yeah. I know I can.

* * *

"WHY DO I HAVE TO BE A DEMIGOD?" I yelled. This whole no epidural thing was NOT okay with me.

I'd been in the hospital for eight hours now, it was six in the evening of Christmas day, Percy had called Thalia and Rachel in for moral support so I had another person's hand to squeeze, and Daisy had just told me to push.

Ow.

"Push!" said Daisy. I took a deep breath and did just that.

When Percy said it, however, I punched him in the arm.

"Gods, Percy, if I had a sword on me right now," I said, trying to remember what it felt like to not hurt, "You'd be skewered. She can tell me what to do, you cannot."

"I'm sorry!" said Percy, not even wincing as I squeezed his hand, "I'm trying to help, you can punch me as much as you want."

"Thank you."

Three minutes later, Daisy said, "And here she is! Welcome to the world!"

I set my head back, and Percy gave me a kiss.

"You did great, Annabeth," he whispered into my hair.

"Yeah," I said, "Yeah, just stop talking."

"And here is your little girl!" Daisy put the child in my arms.

"Oh, my gods," said Percy over my shoulder, one arm of his around my shoulders, "Annabeth, she's beautiful."

"She really is." The second I looked at her, I knew – our baby was not a Minerva. I could tell Percy agreed – well, he never liked the name anyway, but I thought that she might remind me of my mother, and that I'd want to name her after Athena.

She was obviously an intelligent child – a granddaughter of Athena – but I didn't think that was her most obvious characteristic. She was not crying, she sounded more as if –

"Is she singing? Or…or trying to say something?" asked Rachel, "Because…She can't be singing. But she sounds like she's speaking, or singing."

I looked up at Percy. "Well," said Percy, looking at the little girl in my arms with such tenderness, "She's definitely not a Minerva."

"That's exactly what I was thinking."

"Calliope," said Thalia, "It means beautiful-voiced."

I looked down into the little girls grey eyes – my eyes. I'd never seen them outside of a mirror or a photograph before. In her eyes I could see one who wanted to speak, to learn, to sing. "The muse of heroic poetry."

"I think," said Percy with a smile on his face, "That's her name."

"Calliope…What should her middle name be?" I asked. Our idea was to name her after both of our mothers, but Calliope Sally seemed…Wrong, somehow. It didn't seem to flow.

"You," said Percy.

"Me what?" I asked.

"Calliope Annabeth. We'll name her after the most intelligent demigod and the muse of poetry."

"After me?"

"Of course," said Thalia, flexing her hand. I'd been squeezing it pretty hard, though not as hard as I'd been squeezing Percy's. Rachel stood next to Percy.

"Yeah, Annabeth," said Rachel, "She's going to be proud to have you as her mom. And to be named after you. Calliope Annabeth Jackson."

"Caj."

The three of us looked at Percy. "Excuse me?" I said. It was not exactly the right time for him to be saying random words.

"Caj. C-A-J. Her initials. I was making sure they didn't spell out anything odd."

"Oh," I said.

"She's the best Christmas gift I could have ever come up with," said Percy, smoothing her black hair just like his, "Even if she is two weeks early."

For a moment, the two of us exchanged a look.

Thalia and Rachel looked at each other, and nodded, "Um, hey, Rach," said Thalia, "Let's go get something to eat."

"Yeah," said Rachel, heading for the door, "I'd like something to drink."

The two of them left, and Daisy said, "Not to interrupt this absolutely adorable picture, but we might want to weigh and measure the little one."

I nodded. "Here you are." The only way I could allow myself to let her go for a moment was because I was telling myself I would have her for the rest of my life.

"She's been here for about five minutes," said Percy, following Calliope with his eyes, "And she already has us wrapped around her little finger."

I nodded. "And we'll be wrapped for the rest of our lives."

Percy leaned down and kissed me lightly, resting his forehead against mine. "Annabeth…She's here."

"I know."

"She's going to be so smart!"

"Well yeah," I joked, "She's my kid."  
"Your kid?" asked Percy, "What about me? I'm smart!"

I laughed. "Yes, yes, you are smart."

Daisy returned, "Well hello, Mom and Dad, Calliope is back at six pounds, twelve ounces, and nineteen inches long."

"Percy," I asked, "Would you like to hold her? You haven't held her yet."

Percy nodded, but looked a little nervous.

"What's wrong?"

"What if I drop her?"

I sighed. "You're not going to drop her, Percy."

Percy steadied himself the same way he would if he was going into battle. It was a little funny how worried he was about holding Calliope, but I could tell he'd be a great dad. He held out his arms, and the second she was in his arms, his face lit up again.

"She fits so well in my arms…"

We sat in silence for a while, Percy holding Calliope with my head on his shoulders and holding her little hand.

"Callie," he said, his head snapping up, "Callie. We can call her Callie for short."

"Sure," I said, "Callie. Our little Callie."

A few minutes later, Thalia and Rachel returned, with a Coke for Percy and a Yoo-Hoo for me.

"They had Yoo-Hoos?" I exclaimed, smiling. "Awesome!"

Rachel, Percy and Thalia chatted for a while, after Percy put Calliope into my arms again.

She was a perfect combination of the two of us – my eyes, his hair. Everything about her made my heart swell.

"Guess what we have?" said Rachel, smiling.

Percy and I looked at each other, slightly worried, "What…?"

Rachel acted like Vanna White presenting the letters. "Thalia brought a camera!"

"First family photo?" asked Thalia, wiggling the digital camera.

"Ugh," I said with a smile, "Can we wait until I'm not gross and sweaty?"

Percy kissed me lightly on the lips. "Don't be ridiculous, Wise Girl. You're always beautiful."

"Say cheese!" said Thalia. Rachel was making ridiculous faces behind her, and I couldn't help but burst into laughter. I looked down at my baby daughter, our little Callie.

"Hey," I said, confused, "Is she a halfblood?"

"What?" said Percy.

"Genetically, she is. She's a quarter Athena and a quarter Poseidon. First off, she's going to make our parents have to like each other –how could they not with her around, she's adorable – and second, she's genetically a half blood, but will she have our powers?"

Percy, Thalia, Rachel and I looked down at her. After a few moments, Percy looked up again. "You know what? We'll just have to find out."

* * *

Two days later, Percy, Callie and I left the hospital. We drove back to our little New York apartment, and as we walked in each door or passed each item, Percy said, "And this is your first living room! And this is your first counter top! And this is your first –"

"Percy," I whispered, "She's asleep."

"Gods," said Percy, sitting down on our bed, "She's so beautiful, Annabeth. And she's ours."

"I know. She's awesome already, and she's only two days old."

Percy smiled. "She's perfect."

I could do anything but nod and rest my head on Percy's shoulder.

"You're still exhausted, aren't you?" said Percy, kissing my hair lightly.

"No, I'm –" I interrupted myself with a yawn.

Percy chuckled lightly, "Here, you go to bed. We'll be right here when you wake up."

"Are you sure, Percy?"

He nodded. "I'm a dad now. Even if I'm not sure, I have to be."

I nodded. "I know what you mean."

I changed into a pair of loose sweat pants and one of Percy's tee shirts, and climbed into bed. As I drifted off to sleep, I heard Percy say, "I know you're named after your mom, but you don't have to be a bookworm like her. Water – we'll get you swimming in no time."

_A/N2: Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, happy new year to everyone._


	10. Pellet Eater

_A/N: This is set about two days before the Princess Andromeda mission and the very beginning of "The Last Olympian", at Camp Half Blood._

_By the way…You guys, who read and especially those who reviewed, made my Christmas. I was absolutely thrilled to see how many hits I got yesterday and how many people reviewed._

_From the bottom of my heart – thank you a million. You Percabeth fans rock!_

_I hope you enjoy this chapter!_

"So…You're going back to New York."

"Yes."

"And you're not planning on returning between now and your sixteenth birthday."

"Well…" He looked down at his shoes, back up at me, and moved his mouth open and shut as if he was trying to explain what he was doing but couldn't get the words out.

"So that's a no…"

"Annabeth…" said Percy, following me exasperated. "I can't…I already told you, being here...I don't even know what's going on, I can't be here feeling like everyone is planning my funeral!"

"Well maybe some people here just give a damn about you!"

"Well some people aren't making it very obvious!"

"WELL YOU'RE NOT MAKING IT EASY TO LIKE YOU RIGHT NOW." I was breathing hard, halfway between punching Percy and hugging him tighter than I could have ever imagined.

"If you're going to be like this, Annabeth," said Percy, "I'm just leaving."

"Percy, wait," I said. "At least…At least be careful. Don't do anything stupid."

Judging from the look on his face, that was the wrong thing to say.

"No," he said, sarcasm practically dripping out of his ears, "I'm going to run in front of buses, eat thumbtacks, and cuddle with alligators. It'll be awesome, because I'm so dumb."

"Oh, come on, I never called you dumb! And don't be sarcastic!"

"Oh!" said Percy, rolling his eyes. "Right, because only Queen Annabeth can be sarcastic. I forgot."

"Queen Annabeth?" I asked, taking a cautious step towards him, "Excuse me?"

"I'm Annabeth!" he said in a high falsetto. He started prancing around in a way that could not possibly have been an imitation of my walk, because he was leaping around on his tip toes and flapping his hands like he was a little chicken trying to fly away.

"Um, is that supposed to be me?"

"Why yes!" said Percy in the same falsetto, "I'm jealous and annoying and I can never let anyone do what they want! I make life at Camp Half Blood horrible because I'm always spouting off facts about stupid buildings! Ooh, look at this brick! It's a wonderful brick! Hey everybody, come worship this brick!"

"You said you liked hearing about all of that stuff! And jealous? What's that supposed to mean?"

"We were only being nice," said Percy, dropping the act for a moment, and ignoring my comment about being jealous, "You talk our ears off every day."

I put my hands on my hips, about to say something, but he just did the same, but far more exaggerated and far more stupid looking.

"Oh, come on, Percy."

"No!" he said, "No, you come on!"

"I didn't do anything wrong! And that was mean. Why did you have to say that thing about the buildings? I don't talk about it that much." Did I?

"Mean?" said Percy, laughing, "Really. Super smart genius Annabeth says mean like a little kid?"

"Would you stop being so annoying?"

"Would you stop being so Annabeth?"

"Would you stop making me angry?"

"Would you stop making me waste my time?"

"Why are you leaving?" I asked him.

"If you hate me so much, why don't you let me?"

I paused for a moment. I knew why I didn't want him to leave.

I just wasn't going to tell him.

"I don't like…I don't. I don't hate you."

"Rachel lets me come back here without even saying anything."

He just said the wrong thing. And I think he knew it.  
We glared at each other for a moment. I felt as if I could have killed him, right then, right there, had I only had my knife on me. On the other hand, I also could have kissed him, right then, right there, if he didn't look like he was about to punch me in the face. Percy looked as if he wanted to apologize but was too stubborn to back down.

I knew why I was mad – I just didn't want to admit it. He was going to hang out with Rachel later today, and the Princess Andromeda was coming closer and closer. At this rate, the ship would be here anywhere from tomorrow to three days from now, but either way Percy's birthday was in a little over a week.

And he was leaving Camp Half Blood to be with stupid Rachel.

I tried to tell myself that the reason I was mad was that he was abandoning us when we needed our best fighter to train against, and the leader we could all see in him.

In reality, though, I was mad because it felt like he was choosing Rachel over me.

I couldn't figure out why he wanted to leave if it wasn't Rachel. And that's what pissed me off the most.

"I'm sorry," I said, laughing for no reason, "I forgot. I'm not perfect Rachel. Silly me, you go off and play with your silly little girlfriend."

"Rachel," said Percy, taking a furious step towards me, "Is not my girlfriend."

"Oh!" I said, throwing my hands up in the air and rolling my eyes, "Really? You sure seem to be spending one hell of a lot of time with her. Do explain, young sir."

Young sir? What the hell? Oh, awesome job, Annabeth, I'll just speak in 18th century language, that'll make a good argument.

"I already told you, she's…She's…She's a distraction!"

"From what?" I said, angry, "From the fact that you might die? Well, let's face it, Perce, we all could die at any second now. The prophecy pretty much screws everyone over," I should have stopped here, but I didn't, "We could all die tomorrow. And none of us are running away. So why can't you just face it?"

"Because I need…I need something…YOU'RE IMPOSSIBLE."

"I'm impossible? You're an idiot!"

"Pellet eater!"

I blinked at him. "What does that even mean?" I asked, genuinely curious.

Percy looked at the ground and fidgeted for a minute. "Um, you know, because, um, owls? They eat…Pellets."

"Owls spit out the pellets. You can't even insult me right."

"Would you just shut up?" asked Percy, glaring at me.

"No. I won't shut up. I want to know why you keep running away all the time. What the hell are you running from Percy?"

"I don't need to justify myself to you," said Percy, "Just…I need to be alone for a while."

"It's not alone when you're with Rachel."

"Just…Leave me alone."

"No!" I said, running towards Percy and spinning him around by the shoulder so he would look at me. "You need to explain this to me NOW. What are you running from?" I shouted.

"FROM YOU."

I stopped in my tracks. Percy looked as confused as I felt. "What?"

"I'm running from you!" he said, glaring at me. "I'm going to die in a week. There's no reason to…To…When I'll just lose you in 168 hours, and I can't…That's why I'm leaving."

"What's that even mean?" I asked in nearly a whisper.

"I can't be here," Percy took a deep breath and wouldn't meet my eyes, "Seeing you, being with you, knowing that I'm dying in a week and will never see you again after this. That's why I'm leaving. If I'm lucky…I'll…I'll see you later, Annabeth."

Percy turned to leave. I wanted to follow him, but it was as if my feet were rooted to the spot. "Percy…" I called after him. He was only a few steps ahead. He must have heard me.

But he kept walking.

For a few more seconds I stood there, nearly letting him go. I didn't need him. If he wanted to leave, I should let him.

But, I reasoned, a daughter of Athena could never let another person have the last word.

I ran up to him – he was far ahead by now, nearly to his mother's car.

"Percy!" I called, running as fast as I could, "PERCY!"

Finally he turned around. From the look on his face, he was glad I chased after him.

"I…I didn't want you to leave thinking I hated you."

"I never thought that. Just mad."

"Yeah," I stepped closer to him, "Percy…You'll come back."

"Unlikely." He said it seriously, but I saw the hint of a smile playing around his lips. He didn't want to admit it, but he was glad I was here.

And so was I.

"No," I said, taking him by the shoulders and boring my grey eyes into his green, "You're coming back. I know you are."

For a moment it felt like he was going to yell at me again, tell me to shut up. Instead, he did something far less expected.

He pulled me into a bear hug and said, "I'm sorry I called you a pellet eater."

Not the most romantic line, but I could roll with it.

When he let go, he looked at me. "Annabeth, I –"

"No," I said, putting my hand over his mouth, "Don't apologize for anything else." Percy looked bewildered. I suppose it was odd that I wasn't forcing him to admit he was wrong. It didn't seem important at the time. "Seriously. Just…Come back."

"I'll try."

"Have fun," before I could lose my nerve, I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, "And if I don't see you before the Princess Andromeda mission, good luck. We'll be rooting for you."

Percy touched his cheek and blushed a little red. "Yeah," he said, looking a little dazed, "Mission. Right."

As I watched him leave, I forced myself not to think about how that might have been our last interaction.

He'd survive.

If he didn't, I thought, I simply would have to kick his ass.

_A/N2: Definitely almost ended this with Percy walking away without saying goodbye and without Annabeth running after him. But then I decided that would be far too dark and if Percy actually died in the mission Annabeth would have gone all annoying, and my next chapter would have been pathetic._

_Thank you for reading!_


	11. There's Something In The Water

_A/N: Lookie here, another chapter!_

_To everyone who reviewed, favorite'd or alerted yesterday – thank you SO much! It really made my day. Especially because I have been in my house, counting today, for four days because of snow, Christmas, etc, and fanfic has been keeping me from having severe cabin fever._

_Read and review! Reviewing makes my days happyful! It also lets me know how I'm doing and if the stories are still what people want. And reviews make me smile! A lot! f I could promise cookies I know I'd get more reviews…Silly internet. Hehe._

_I hope you like it!_

"Chiron," I said, walking over to my teacher, "When did they leave again?"

"Beckendorf left around 2:30, he probably got to Percy around three, and it's only four now. The two of them shouldn't be back for another half hour at the soonest, even with Percy's power over the water."

The two of us were sitting in the Big House, my newest architecture book forgotten on my lap. I realized my knee was bouncing the same way that Percy's did whenever he was nervous, and when I realized that I stopped it immediately.

"He'll come back, Annabeth," said Silena confidently. She hadn't worried a bit the entire day, and it was beginning to annoy me.

Her boyfriend was off with my…Well, my something, and she was waltzing around like no matter what the whole world was going to be roses and daisies.

My knee continued to bounce despite my attempts to stop it, and Chiron looked at me. "Annabeth, you need to calm down."

"I don't need to calm down!" I shouted. Chiron looked at me.

I supposed shouting indicated that I wasn't calm.

"Do you want to try a little sword sparring?" asked Silena tentatively. I could see she wanted me to say no.

"Nah," I said, shrugging my shoulders, "I'd rather just…Well, I could go for a run. That could work."

Silena looked visibly relieved.

I walked over to the cabin that I shared with my siblings, who all gave me the "Oh, look, it's Annabeth time to clam up awkwardly and talk about anything else" look.

Malcolm and Jess, two of my siblings who weren't awkward about everything came over to greet me as I walked in. "Annabeth!" exclaimed Malcolm, "Hi, so, we came up with this great –"

"Can't talk," I said, rummaging around my drawers and bed, throwing everything everywhere, "Gotta find something."

I pulled out the picture of Percy he gave me from his sophomore year of high school. Green eyes glinting with his most recent quest, his black hair finally cut short enough that the annoying little cowlick behind his right ear was smoothed down.

I didn't know why I needed it or why I was getting it. I just needed to see him in this picture.

Just in case I wouldn't see him again.

Fear slammed in my chest like a brick out of nowhere.

"Annabeth," said Jess, peering around my crouching figure to look at my distraught face, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," I said, "But something bad happened."

"No," said Jess, "We would have heard something if the camp was invaded by now."

"No, no, the mission. The Princess Andromeda mission."

I ended up getting my run in by sprinting to the water. I couldn't see anything. Nothing was there.

But I knew something went wrong.

"Whoa, there, Annabeth," said Connor, hopping down from his perch, "What's up?"  
"Something happened," I said, beginning to pace, "Something bad."

"Oh, calm down," said Connor, whacking me on the shoulder with the palm of his hand. I was thrown off balance and stumbled.

"Thanks." I said with an eye roll.

"You worry too much," said Connor, leaning against the tree and crossing his arms, "You've got to learn to relax, chill out. Take a freakin' breather once in a while."

"Right," I said, "Breather," I sat on the sand near the water, and stared out into the ocean. Percy was out there, somewhere. I took off my shoes and socks, and waded into the water. I was grateful for my shorts – as long as I remembered where the drop off was where it went from one foot deep to four feet deep, I would stay dry. There was something in the water – not a fish or an eel, not a change in temperature. A tremor, or a current, warning me of something.

My head snapped up, and I lost balance, and my left foot dropped down into the drop off, soaking most of my shorts.

I didn't notice though. I was too busy staring horrified out at the horizon.

Connor was looking at me as if I had grown three heads.

"See?" I said, rushing out of the water and splashing myself and Connor in the process.

"See WHAT, Annabeth? You walked into the water, stared at it for like maybe three seconds, fell over, and then spazzed out."

"There's something wrong in the water," I said, hastily pulling on my shoes and socks, ignoring the water making my shoes squish, "Keep an eye out. Someone – or something – is going to be paying us a visit soon."

"You are speaking as if you're in some mystery novel or movie. Who are you, Velma? Does that make me Scooby Doo?"

I sprinted away, "Just keep an eye out, I've got to go talk to Chiron."

When I skidded to a halt on the front porch of the Big House, Chiron looked at me and laughed.

"What?" I asked, immediately self conscious, "What's so funny?"

"You look like you just saw a ghost."

"I did no such thing," I said, absentmindedly running my fingers through the ends of my slightly tangled hair, "I just feel like something bad happened."

"Annabeth," said Chiron with a smile, "We're in the middle of a war. Bad things are always happening."

"No," I said, sitting down on the table, next to, of course, Silena who was still smiling far too wide for one who may be receiving the worst news of her life in about three seconds, "Chiron, this is more than that. The water."

"You went into the water?" Chiron asked with a knowing look, nodding at my shorts.

"W-well, of course!" I said, unable to meet his eye, "It's – the Princess Andromeda is a ship, it's on the water, and Percy is the son of Poseidon and could wash up there. Since, you know, he's on the ship. Or was on the ship. He could send some sort of message…" I trailed off.

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much," said Silena in a singsong tone.

I poked her in the shoulder, "You're just too in love. You're blinded, it's not me."

The two of them exchanged a glance, like they were saying, "oh, kids these days."

Silena was two months younger than I was.

"Annabeth," said Chiron, "Your shorts are soaked. Go change into something else before you leak all over the room."

I rolled my eyes. Of course. I was being banished. And all because of my leaky shorts.

Wait.

That…came out wrong.

I walked back over to my cabin, less quickly this time, and changed into jeans quickly. Unfortunately, I glanced in the mirror.

I looked like a cave woman.

"I look like Hades," I muttered, glad Nico wasn't around to take offense.

I, again, tried to run my fingers through my hair, but it wasn't working. I hadn't brushed it since the night before when I took a shower, and between now and then I had taken out a hell hound, two empousai, a half blood and four mosquitoes since then.

And, of course, I was going to probably look this ridiculous when Percy would see me.

Not that I cared.

He would just mention it and make fun of me.

I walked to the Big House, and nearly ran into Chiron, who was staring at me with a nervous look.

"He's returned."

For a split second I was excited – Percy was back!

But then it hit me – he's returned. He.

One was gone. And one returned.

I exchanged a quick glance with Silena, who's smile was faltering slowly. "I'm," she said in a voice higher pitched than usual, "I'm going to go find Clarisse."

"No," I said, "You – you should come with us."

Chiron and I raced ahead, but Silena was walked more slowly – not even jogging.

I needed to see who it was. Now.

Chiron and I arrived at the pavilion and I saw him.

My Seaweed Brain. My heart flipped over, tap danced, disco'd, and flamenco'd in my chest. He was alive.

But Luke…

"What happened," I asked, grabbing his arm, to prove to myself he was really here, "Is Luke –"

"The ship blew up," said Percy in this horrifying monotone, "He wasn't destroyed. I don't know where –"

Silena bumped into me, and I felt my heart fall hard and fast. If Percy was here, Beckendorf wasn't. And that meant…

"Where's Charlie?" Silena demanded in the same high voice as before.

Percy and Chiron exchanged a glance, and Chiron said, "Silena, my dear, let's talk about this in the Big House –"

It physically hurt me when I heard Silena say, "No. No, NO."

Clarisse finally came forward, and I cleared a space so she could come be with her friend.

"Come on girl, let's go to the Big House. I'll make you some hot chocolate."

The crowd cleared, and with each person who left my desire to wrap my arms around Percy and never let him go grew stronger.

Unfortunately, Chiron never left. The feeling was nearly overwhelming me, but I had to keep composure.

Suddenly, I realized I was crying, and that I was staring at Percy, whose face was hardened with the wear and tear of the mission.

I wiped the tear away, and expressed as much affection as I could allow with Chiron there, "I'm glad you're not dead, Seaweed Brain."  
"Thanks," said Percy, "Me too."

The words were platonic, but I could swear that the look that passed between us was more than that.

Behind my words was what I really wanted to say. "I missed you."


	12. One Tree Fail

_A/N: This is dedicated to my former roommate, Laila. She'll never read this, because she's never been on fanfiction in her life, but the show is her favorite. And I kind of ditched her when I transferred schools. It's kind of silly, but in my head most things Percabeth seem to be silly._

_And 54 reviews? *falls off of chair* Thank you everybody! Also, I need to leave a 16 hour window between checking my email and fanfiction account more often – my inbox was full of fanfiction reviews, alerts, and favorites, and I am not ashamed to say that I yelled, "No way!" in glee._

_Thank you guys SO much! *gives a giant hug to each and every one of my my reviewers, favoriters or alerters*_

_Enjoy, read, review!_

"It's a good show."

"I refuse to believe that."

"It's awesome! Seriously, you'll get addicted in like thirty seconds."

"I am not watching One Tree Hill with you!"

"Annabeth," whined Percy, turning on the puppy dog eyes, "But it's so good! Please, as a birthday gift?"

"Your birthday was nearly a month ago."

"Halloween then," He put his hand over my mouth as I tried to protest, "Labor day?"

I sighed. "Fine, Percy," I said, snuggling into his couch. I had stolen Percy's sweatshirt and had chosen my oldest, most worn jeans, so I was the most comfortable I could be even before I stole the blanket from Percy.

Ever since he'd returned from the Roman camp that June, a half a year from when he first went missing, the two of us were spending essentially every second with each other. Losing six months from our relationship was a very unpleasant experience – and we were doing anything these past two months to make up for it all.

Apparently, though, One Tree Hill was more important.

Percy, excited as first grader on the first day of school, leapt up to put the show in the DVD player.

His mother had left to go see a movie with her new husband, and we had the house alone.

And what did Percy decide to do with all this privacy?

ONE TREE HILL.

He returned to the couch, and Gavin DeGraw's "I Don't Want To Be" started playing.

"What is the –"

"SHH IT'S STARTING."

On the screen was a blonde boy and a girl with brown hair. They were kissing.

I was not enthralled in the least.

My eyes narrowed.

"You know, Percy, I never –"  
"STOP TALKING."

I blinked. Was he really picking a TV show over me? The vacant expression on his face told me that the answer was yes.

I didn't care about the show. I was extremely bored. Teenagers kissing and making mistakes and, from the looks of one girl, getting pregnant in high school.

That was not exciting in the least.

Film our lives, I thought, and that would give you exciting.

I looked up at Percy, whose eyes were glued to the screen.

"You know, Percy," I said, tracing the seams of his blue jeans, "We've got the house to ourselves."

"Stop talking. I never interrupt you when you're talking about architecture, do I?"

"Well no," I said, confused as to how my passion and his TV show compared, "But –"

"Then please stop talking."

I was so dumbfounded that I couldn't respond. Percy was rarely like this.

Hell, it took him a while to even be able to speak properly after we kissed.

And now he chooses a show? What is this?

The show continued, and I had to guess that it was graduation. The pregnant girl came up to the podium.

"Aw, jeez, the pregnant girl is valedictorian?"

"Yeah, Haley is probably one of the smartest characters on television."

I rolled my eyes. "You'd probably rather make out with the DVD case…" I muttered.

"OH MY GOD LOOK AT THIS. HER WATER JUST BROKE."

"Oh. Wow. Ooh. Ah. Mystery. Intrigue."

Percy was not focusing on me. I was not okay with that.

I snuggled closer to him and put my head on his chest. It seemed like things were turning around when he put his arm around me and started smoothing my hair.

Until he said, "Annabeth, can you flatten your hair or something? It's blocking the TV screen."

Romance was dead, and Percy killed it.

"Where did you even find this show?" I asked once the episode was over.

"At the Roman camp," he answered, going for the next episode. I grabbed the remote from him.

"You don't get this."

"Yes I do!" he said, looking like a puppy who lost his only chew toy.

I stood up. "You're going to have to chase me for it."

"GIVE IT BACK!"

I neglected to inform him that he could just use the buttons on the DVD player.

I leapt over the chair in the way, and skidded around the small apartment.

"So," I yelled over my shoulder to Percy, "Who liked watching it at the Roman camp?"  
"This girl named Reyna and this guy named…I can't remember his name, but he liked it," I heard a thump, then Percy swore and said, "OW. CHAIR. STUPID CHAIR."

I laughed, "Okay, Reyna then. The girl who was in love with Jason, right?"

"Yeah," said Percy, gaining on me. Little did he know, he was doing exactly what I wanted him to do.

"I didn't really like it," I said, making my final turn into Percy's bedroom. It was a hail Mary pass, but it was all I had. Peyton, Lucas and Brooke were not going to steal my boyfriend.

Oh, jeez, now I'm talking about them like they are real people. I was becoming delusional.

I hid behind the door, and shut it the second he ran in.

His room was small, with a blue theme like pretty much his whole life, and had a bed right in the corner.

I locked the door, and leaned up against it, my foot keeping the door shut. "Now," I said, "Are you willing to give up that dumb show?"

Percy looked between me and the door for a few seconds.

"Oh my gods," I said, laughing a little, "You're actually considering it! You idiot I –"

I was unable to finish my sentence, because as I was talking, Percy had strode over to me, wrapped his arms around my waist, and kissed me straight on the mouth.

And there was the real Percy.

We began kissing feverishly – each kiss was like getting back another moment we lost those six months. I ran my fingers through his black hair, and his hands were anchored firmly in mine, massaging my scalp in that way that seems like it would be weird but actually felt really great.

I steered him over to the bed, with the intent to basically just make out until we heard the front door open, but he had other plans.

Percy tossed me onto the bed.

"Um," I said, feeling a light blush spread across my cheeks. This was different, "Okay, this works, but –"

"HAH! ONE TREE HILL!" screamed Percy. He threw open the door, ran out it, slammed it shut, and I heard some shaking and thudding against the door, and Percy's war cry, then someone professing their love to another from the television.

I just got cock blocked by a TV show.

On what planet did Percy Jackson like a show like One Tree Hill? There were no sword fights. No car chases. No epic battles. It had hot girls, but –

If it was the girls, I was going to push him in front of a bus.

Taking my time to vindictively reorganize Percy's CDs so they were just barely out of alphabetical order but he would have to spend a while fixing it, I pulled on the door handle.

It wouldn't open.

I would have been glaring at Percy, alas, he was behind the door, so I had to settle for glaring at the door.

I jiggled the door knob for about five more minutes, always asking Percy for help last, until finally I had to give in.

"Percy!" I yelled, "Let me out of here!"

"No," said Percy simply.

I went back into his room and flopped onto his bed.

I began to scheme – would I call someone and tell them he was holding me hostage?

No, I thought, I'd call Travis Stoll.

"Hey Percy," I said, leaning against the door, "Guess what I have in my hand right now."

"What?"

"My cell phone."

There was a slight pause. "Yeah, and?"

"I'll call Travis and tell him you're watching One Tree Hill."

To my surprise, all Percy did was laugh. "Go ahead."

This wasn't the planned response. I was expecting him to freak out, snatch the phone out of my hand, and then realize that he'd rather spend time with me than with fictional characters.

"I'm dialing right now," I said, making the phone beep.

"You are not."  
"Yes I am."

"Well, I don't care."

"You're bluffing," I called through the door.

"Am not."  
"Are too."

"Owl Head."  
"Seaweed Brain."

"Buttface."

"Loser."

"Nerd."

"Mor –"

Percy was wiggling the door knob. I stepped away from it. "Hello," he said with a smile.

"Hi. Thank you for letting me out. Moron."

"You think I'm letting you out?" said Percy with a grin. He walked in and shut the door. "Oh no, Wise Girl," he said, wrapping his arms around my waist, "I'm letting me in."

Percy Jackson was impossible.

But he kissed like it was his job.


	13. Cheater, Cheater, Pumpkin Eater

_A/N: At the request of MHLL and as a gigantic thank you to all who reviewed – seriously, it makes my day. And I've been going through a lot so all this reviewing is making me smile – I am posting again! The more reviews I get the more motivated I am to post, I suppose haha._

_This is set between "Interruptions" and "Pellet Eater."_

_I'm beginning to get myself confused with the order – if people want me to put the chronological order of the oneshots up on my profile page, let me know._

_Also, this one is rated somewhere between K+ and T. JUST WARNING YOU NOW. But it's not explicit anything – just an implication of something silly._

_Read, review, enjoy!_

I needed to get out of the cabin.

It was two and a half weeks until Percy's birthday, and he had come back until, as far as I knew, he had to leave for the Princess Andromeda mission. All my cabin had been doing was strategize, theorize, and they had begun to think of plans where people had to sacrifice themselves to save others.

And I couldn't deal with it anymore.

When the clock hit one in the morning, the last of my siblings finally went to sleep. I fidgeted in my bed until I heard him start to snore, then I leapt out of bed, fully dressed.

For once I was glad I didn't have a top bunk.

I tied the laces on my sneakers, grabbed my knife from under the bed, and walked out the door, careful to miss the creaky bottom step.

I breathed in the night air and stared up into the sky for a moment. Here at Camp, despite the proximity to the city, the stars were brighter. From where I stood I could pick out Artemis' tribute to Zoe. I'd never really met her more than just a brief introduction, but Percy more than once told me I reminded him of her.

Considering Thalia said she could be bossy and controlling, I wasn't sure if it was a compliment. But I had a feeling I would have gotten along with her quite well.

Before I knew it, I realized my feet were carrying me to the waterfront.

When I sat down on the sand, I, with a start, realized that Percy was floating on top of the water about twenty feet out into the water.

I tried to leave before he noticed me, but he floated over to me.

"Hi," he said washing up on shore, "How are you doing on this fin evening?"

I stared at him. "Fin?"

"It was a pun. I was trying to be – nevermind."

"No," I said, letting myself laugh for the first time in a while, "It was funny."

The two of us stared at the water for a moment, and I was uncomfortably aware of how close we were. It wasn't a bad thing, I just wasn't sure how to respond.

Percy cleared his throat, "So," he said, "War."

"Yup."

"Destruction."

"Yup."

"I hate all of it."

I grabbed a stick from behind me and started doodling in the sand, "Me too."

"I miss when the sword fighting wasn't all for defending our lives," I said, poking at a pile of leaves, "When it was about making yourself better, creating your own style and strategy."

"Well," said Percy, standing up and holding his hand out, "Why don't we bring that back for the night?"

"What?"

"You heard me," he said, wiggling his hand, "Let's fight. But without trying to think of our impending doom or the possibility of me ruining Western civilization or anything. Like we did that day when Travis –" Percy paused and got this look on his face as if he was getting punched in the gut.

"Right. When Travis made me chase after him," I said, clearing my throat. It was hard to think about that moment, mainly just because of what should have happened that didn't. I reached for Percy's hand and pulled myself up, feeling light sparks pass between us. I ignored them. I'd had to ignore them ever since the kiss at the forges, because if I confronted them, I'd probably just get myself confused. And I hated feeling confused.

Percy whipped his "it's a pen! Wait! No! It's a sword!" out of his pocket, uncapped it and took a stance like a fencer. "En garde."

I pulled out my knife. "Oh, bring it," I said.  
"I'll bring it."

"I already brought it and personalized it."

"I already brought it, personalized it, and broke it in."

"WHOA!" I said, laughing, "You seem to think you're a Mr. Big Man, Mr. Jackson."

"I'm the Son of the Sea," he said, shrugging pompously, "I'm kind of a big deal."

I laughed and rolled my eyes, "Oh, okay then," I said, my hands on my hips, "Bet on it."  
"Bet on what?" asked Percy, playing with his sword.

"If I win," I said, "You need to run to breakfast tomorrow in footie pajamas with a teddy bear in your arms, crying about how you had a bad dream and want your mommy."

"Okay. And if I win," said Percy, "You need to get up in the middle of breakfast tomorrow, and declare my supremacy."

"Your supremacy."

"Yes," he said, taking a cocky step towards me, "Talking about how I'm better than you, smarter than you –"

"We all know THAT would be a lie."

He stepped to my side and put his elbow on my shoulder, and leaned against me, "Yes, but," he said, spinning his sword around, "It would make me smile. And it's my side of the bet. You stand on the Athena table and proclaim my awesomeness and superiority."

My heart was thudding a little harder than usual, but even so I managed to say, "That's ridiculous."

"You're trying to make me go in front of people in footie pajamas and a teddy bear, crying."

I pushed his elbow off of my shoulder and drew my blade then. "Fine then," I said preparing myself to kick his butt, "Bring it on, Seaweed Brain."

"Like I already said," Percy smirked at me, a sparkle in his eye, "I already brought it."

We began, and I offhandedly thought about how amusing it was that I was competing against him with a short knife, and he was fighting with a three foot sword.

"Hey, Percy," I said, dodging his blow, and catching his blade on mine, "So what's up with this sword of yours, huh?"

"What do you mean?" he said, catching my blade.

"Well," the two of us were pressing our blades up against each other, and I was close enough to kiss him. That was a weird though. Why did I just to that? "That sword's pretty long. Compensating?"

Percy caught me off guard and pushed me away, and I stumbled slightly.

"Oh," he said, looking at his sword, "This old thing? Not at all," he stepped towards me, and I steadied myself, "Not in the slightest."

"Well, you're getting beaten by a girl wielding a knife," I said as we continued to fight, "How's that feel?"

"Beaten?" asked Percy, "Oh, I wouldn't go that far."

A second too late, I realized we'd managed to get right next to the water. Like a flash, Percy overpowered me, twisted my knife out of my hand, took me out by the ankles, held my knife behind his back, and was leaning over me, Riptide at my throat.

It took me a second to catch my breath. He has extremely close to me, with his battle look in his eyes. The green, instead of resembling the sea, was brighter and fiercer than usual. Luckily, though, he was smiling.

"Gotcha," he breathed.

"I…You…YOU CHEATED!" I said, trying to sit up. One of his knees was on my chest. Needless to say, my attempt failed.

Percy stood up and offered his hand again, but I ignored it, preferring to get up on my own.

"You never said using water was against the rules, now did you?"

"It was implied!"  
"Did you say it though?"

I faltered. "Well, no, I –"

"Hmm," he said, pretending to think, "Why, I think…What? A daughter of Athena not thinking of everything before the battle? What is this madness?"  
I held out my hand for my knife and muttered, "Oh, shut up."

"What was that?"  
"I said shut up."

"Actually," he said, his eyes glinting, "You're supposed to be telling me how awesome I am."

Oh, hell. The bet.

Percy saw the look on my face and smiled. "Oh, yes," he said, tapping his fingers together like a super villain, "I am so excited to see this tomorrow at breakfast."

I rolled my eyes. "You look like Cruella de Vil."  
"I do not. I look like a guy who just beat out the former best sword fighter at Camp Half Blood."  
"By cheating."

"Now, now," said Percy, handing me my knife, "No need to be a poor sport."

__

"Are you seriously making me do this?" I asked, not even bothering to hide the whine in my voice.

Percy nodded, happy as a kid on his birthday. "Go ahead," he said, smiling up at me, "Go say it."

"I don't want to."

"We bet on it. You'd be forcing me into the footie pajamas right now if you had won."

"Which I would have had you not cheated."  
"It wasn't cheating."  
I pushed him lightly and sighed. "Fine. You doofus."

I stood up on the table, and my siblings all looked at me like I had gone insane.

I probably had, agreeing to this.

"Excuse me everyone," said Percy, "But I think Annabeth has an announcement."

I rolled my eyes. "I'll get you for this, Jackson."

"You lost, Chase, deal with it."

"Yes, Annabeth," said Chiron, "What is it?"

I took a deep breath. "Percy Jackson is…" I honestly felt like the words were trying to stay in my mouth. Percy looked up at me expectantly, and I sighed, "Smarter, braver, funnier, better with a sword, and all around more awesome than me in every aspect of life." All my effort was put into making what I just said sound as monotone and flat as I could.

"And?" said Percy.

Well, he asked for it.

"And he is compensating for his tiny boy part by using a giant sword."

The entire camp burst into laughter. Clarisse fell off of her seat and was rolling on the groupd, cracking up completely. Percy stood there in total shock, glaring at me and turning bright red.

"You cheat," I said to Percy, sitting down on my seat with a huge grin on my face, "I cheat."


	14. Clueless

_A/N: Please never read Unbreak You again. Well, okay, you can if you want. But I hate how lame I made it, so I'm sort of redoing the post-kiss scene more in character, with Annabeth less of a prissy princess. Because I am mad at myself that I tried to force her character into the theme of the song, and because Annabeth is not a weepy, insecure lame-o like I wrote her in Unbreak You._

_Also, I love my readers so much. Each time I get a review or a favorite or an alert email, I get so happy about it. Thank you SO MUCH for reading – I know I say it every chapter, and it must get annoying, but I appreciate it more than I can accurately convey in words. I'm not even kidding, I write with a smile on my face. Thank you so much._

_Anyway, read, review, enjoy! And dear Artemis I hope this is more in character or I will be forced to insult Zeus during a thunderstorm as punishment._

We were kissing, and I couldn't breathe.

Which might have had something to do with the fact that we were underwater.

In half a second, though, before I could even make a motion to Percy that I was having issues, a bubble formed around the two of our heads.

Percy, the lucky kid, was completely dry.

My hair was sopping wet and my jeans were about twelve shades darker than they'd been when I'd put them on that morning. Stupid water.

"Ooh," I said, "Son of Poseidon getting fancy with the air bubbles?"

Percy nodded, "Yes indeed. Now," he said, leaning towards me, "Where were we?"

Now, a person would not think of this, but kissing underwater is not the easiest thing in the world.

It was when I was upside down and accidentally kicking some fish that I mentioned, "Perhaps it would be better if our bodies were in the bubble? This whole floating thing is much more difficult for me than it is for you."  
"You know I hadn't thought of that."

Using those super special "I'm the waterboy!" powers of his, Percy grew the bubble so we both were able to find our footing.

He wrapped one arm around my waist and pushed my wet hair out of the way with his other hand. He looked at his hand. "Oh, wow," he said, "Sorry about that."

Immediately, I had the strangest sensation that I was dry.

"Dude," I said, "This is insa –"

Unfortunately, Percy shut me up before I could finish.

Usually, when he did something like that, I would punch him. But the means by which he chose to shut me up were so nice that, really, it would be inappropriate to complain.

Percy pulled me to him, his lips covering mine, and this was nowhere near the same kind of kiss as earlier on the dock, and extremely far from the kiss at the forges.

As I moved my lips against his and hugged him tight, I made the executive decision that, yes, this was definitely was different, and definitely was better. Sadly, I'd always been the one doing the kissing – when Percy started it, it was a whole different ball game.

By the time we came up, Clarisse, Travis and Chris were the last three people waiting for us. I hadn't realized how long we'd been under.

"Wow," said Travis, "Way to go, Jackson."

"Put a sock in it, Travvie," said Percy, nonchalantly sending a jet of water into Travis' face, making him lose his balance and land in the seaweed-y part of the lake.

"I AM COVERED IN SEAWEED," yelled Travis, flailing like a fish on dry land.

"Aw," I said laughing, "He's in your brain!"

"Oh, come on!" said Percy, poking me in the side, "You're not done with that whole nickname thing?"

"Remember when I said I'd never make things easy for you?"

"Well, yes, but –"

"I will be mocking you for a very long time," I said, planting a little kiss on his nose, "You better get used to it."

"You guys," said Clarisse, shaking her head, "Are almost as bad as us."

Clarisse and Chris had gotten far more lovey dovey than any daughter of Ares should be allowed. But the two of them embraced it – I think their mindset was that, after all the hate and war, we needed a little saccharine sweet in our lives.

I, on the other hand, already decided that I would never do that. Mainly because annoying Percy is far too much fun. I threw my hand around his shoulders.

"It took him long enough," I said, unable to control my smile.

Percy looked over at me sheepishly, "Sorry," he said with a shrug, "I've got seaweed for a brain. You said it yourself."

"Disgusting," said Clarisse with a smile, "Absolutely repulsive."

"Yeah," I said, poking Percy in the side, "It's his fault."

Clarisse and Chris walked away, and left Percy and I on the dock.

"So," I said, sitting back down, "What took you so long to realize that you were absolutely, madly enamored with me?"

Percy looked out into the water and leaned against one of the posts, looking near godly.

It was strange to think that he had chosen mortal life instead of immortality, and even stranger to think that he might have chosen it because of me. It sounded conceited as I thought it, but he had pretty much insinuated it before I kissed him.

"I think I've always known," said Percy, "But it's more like why did it take me so long to stop being clueless."

I hit him on the leg. "You'll always be clueless."  
"Oh," he said, sitting down next to me, "Nice. Real nice. Treat your boyfriend that way."

"That's how you're going to do it?"

Percy turned to me, "Do what?"

"Ask me to be your girlfriend."

"Oh," he said, brushing his hair back, "I thought that was implied, you know," he laughed, "After spending half an hour underwater kissing."

I thought about that for a second. "Wow, half an hour."

"Yeah."

"People probably thought I drowned."

"People probably thought you were ripping my head off."

I scooted next to him and put my head on his shoulder. "Still not out of the question."

"What? Why not?"

"You haven't officially asked me to be your girlfriend yet! I can't just hang out here kissing some guy if I don't even know if he's actually into me!"

He looked at me incredulously. "Oh, you can't be serious. Of course I'm into you! Do I seriously have to ask?"

"Well you have to do something."

Percy stood up. "Fine then," he said, and he walked away.

What.

The.

Halibut.

I glared at him as he walked away. "Seriously?" I shouted, "This is so not okay! I knew you always ran away from everything, you idiot! I knew it! You're a coward, Percy Jackson! I wish you – oh my."

Percy had drawn in the air, in gigantic letters, "Annabeth will you be my girlfriend?" in sea water.

"Is that good enough for you?" Percy called from the waterfront with a smile on his face and laughter in his voice. He walked up to the side of the dock and helped me hop down. I was still too stunned to speak.

"Did you really think I was just walking away?" he asked, pulling me into his arms.

I shook my head. "No. Not really. I was just worried."

"So that's a yes."

I shrugged, "Okay, fine, I was nervous you were. But you didn't, and that's what matters." I stood there in his arms for a few moments, looking at the words.

"So, what's your answer?"  
"To what?" I said, still staring at the letters.

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

"I think you already know, Percy," I said, leaning up to give him a kiss. He put his hand on my forehead.

"Oh, no," he said, laughing, "No way, you make me say it, I make you say it."

"Yes, Seaweed Brain," I said, wrapping my arms around his neck again, "Of course I'll be your girlfriend."

We both missed dinner that night, but neither of us noticed or cared.

We were too busy making up for all the time lost by Percy being absolutely clueless.

_A/N2: Just reread Unbreak You. Oh gods, that's embarrassing. Pretend that never happened. Good heavens I hope this one is better…_


	15. Inspector Half Blood

_A/N: This idea is from __jpantonio10!_

_I'm not even kidding, I was so excited to write this. Mainly because I adore TLO and any excuse I have to read bits and pieces of it I'll take. I just finished reading the series two weeks ago, and it's taking all of my self restraint not to read them again._

_*eyes dart over to TLT* NO! BAD PRPLE! WRITE!_

_Also, I have 76 reviews, and I got 24 fanfiction notifications in my email last night, and pretty much died of happiness. *says thank you a million times as usual* But, seriously, thank you so much!_

_As always, if you have any ideas or scenes you would like to see written, tell me in a review. I will be sure to credit you. I plan on keeping this going until I completely run out of ideas – and that doesn't seem to be happening soon. As long as I have Percabeth ideas, I will be writing these oneshots._

_Read, review, enjoy!_

Inspection was one of the most boring things in the world. Percy made it almost tolerable – unless he was being obnoxious.

We stepped into Percy's cabin, and the place would have been near perfect if there had been ten people in the cabin. However, there was only one. Percy's bed was a mess, his pillow half dangling off of the top bunk, and there was a pair of blue and green plaid boxers peeking out from his drawer that I pretended not to notice.

Percy wrote a four out of five onto the sheet.

To distract myself, I said, "That's being generous," considering the fact that I had just picked up a rather odd looking pair of shorts from the ground. A four out of five this cabin was not.

Percy snatched them from me, a strange look on his face, "Hey, give me a break. I don't have Tyson cleaning up after me this summer."

I rolled my eyes, and fought the impulse to mention that he was as tidy as a six year old, and instead said, "Three out of five."

Percy looked as if he wanted to say something but – well judged – closed his mouth.

The two of us walking along, Percy's head in the reports as we walked around the camp. I chanced a glance at him. He looked too settled for a guy who just had to deal with a friend's death.

Then again, I was the same. No one knew, however, that I escaped the cabin at night to climb Thalia's tree, forcing my eyes shut to try and go back to the days when the tree didn't exist.

For all I knew, Percy did the same kind of thing.

It's days like these when I wished I could get inside his head.

We reached the Aphrodite cabin, and about three different girls looked Percy up and down as we walked in. Four years he had been there, and they still couldn't stop looking at him.

I refused to acknowledge that I, seconds before, had been doing the same.

"It smells like Yankee Candle in here," said Percy in my ear.

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain, it's spotless," I said, gesturing around the cabin, "Which is ten times more of what you could say for your cabin."

"Let's dock a point."

Percy was borderline intolerable.

"Great job as usual, Silena," I said as gently as I could. Pictures of Beckendorf and her together adorned the walls. They were so happy, and even that couldn't last.

"You want a bonbon?" Silena asked, kicking me out of my thoughts, "My dad sent them. He thought –" her voice cracked here, and I wanted nothing more than to run either to her or as far away from the camp as possible, "He thought they might cheer me up."

"Are they any good?" Percy asked. I would have kicked him for not seeing how Silena was, but I was worried that would make Silena uncomfortable. Special treatment, walking on eggshells – it was the last thing people wanted in a situation like this.

Silena shook her head. "They taste like cardboard."

Percy went up and grabbed one, but I decided against it.

"We'll come say hi later on, Silena," said Percy, using a gentle voice I'd never heard before. The two of us gave her smiles, but she didn't seem to be able to give us one back.

The two of us passed Apollo and Ares arguing, and I had to explain to Percy what was going on. We checked Demeter, Hephaestus and Hermes, and then arrived at my cabin.

From the day before, and from this morning, my bunk was a mess. I prayed that Percy wasn't looking at the embarrassing purple bra my stepmother had gotten me for Christmas that was sticking out of my drawer, but a part of me, the logical part, was unable to contemplate how he'd miss it. I never wanted that stupid bra anyway. Sure, it was pretty, and sure, it actually fit, but seriously? My step mom didn't know me at all.

The drawers weren't the worst part either. My bed was covered in notes and I knew exactly what they were – my attempt at deducing what the prophecy meant, how I could possibly interpret it so that Percy wouldn't die. A few of the notes were battle strategies, but most of those were on my laptop which, I noticed with a wince, was still running.

"Vlacas," I muttered.

Malcolm was trying not to smile. "Yeah, um," he said, "We cleaned everything else. Didn't know if it was safe to move your notes." He nodded over to Percy, "We'll wait outside while you finish inspection."

We were alone. We weren't supposed to be, but we were alone.

I tried to figure out every possible maneuver to get the blush off of my cheeks and fiddled with my laptop until I was sure the redness had faded, and then closed it.

Percy cleared his throat and, in a slightly strangled voice said, "So…Get any good info from that thing?"

"Too much," I said, looking lovingly at the computer, "Daedalus had so many ideas. I could spend fifty years trying to figure them all out."

"Yeah, that would be fun."

I had a feeling he didn't mean to sound so sarcastic.

As I shuffled my papers, most of which had his name on them, I began to think. This may be our only alone moment in the next week, before his sixteenth birthday. I had to accept it – if he wouldn't bring it up, I would have to.

I always had to. I took a deep breath, "You know," I said, brushing my hair behind my ear, trying to steady my nervous voice, "This whole thing with Beckendorf and Silena. It kind of makes you think. About…" I didn't dare look into his eyes yet – what if he didn't think the same.

No way. That wasn't even an option. After the last few weeks here, even when he was gone, there was something. I knew it and he knew it.

And I was going to bring it up, now, and, hell, we were going to talk about it.

"What's important. About losing people who were important." I looked up, and for a split second we made eye contact – and at that second, I saw so many points of our lives flash before me. The kiss, the date, the time he told me I was a genius when he thought I was asleep.

"Um, yeah, like, is everything okay with your family?"

PERCY JACKSON YOU ARE AN OBLIVIOUS, BRAINLESS NEANDERTHAL.

I kept myself from rolling my eyes and/or killing him, and instead nodded and said, "My dad wanted to take me to Greece this summer. I've always wanted to see –"

"The Parthenon," Percy interrupted. He remembered. Captain Oblivious couldn't take a hint when I was trying to tell him I had feelings for him, but he could remember that I was in love with the Parthenon.

Of course.

But it still meant – I guessed – that he cared or, at least, listened. "Yeah."

"That's okay. There'll be other summers, right?"

The words punched me in the chest. For him there may be no more summers, and without Percy, that meant that there would be no more summers worth living.

Not that Percy meant that things would be better. Where would you get that idea? No, I just meant that without him, if he was gone, it would probably mean that we lost. And that Olympus had irreversibly collapsed.

Right? Of course.

I shook myself out of my stupor and stared down at my inspection scroll. Chores. We were doing chores. "Three out of five," I said, "For a sloppy head counselor."

Percy read a letter to Grover, and I grimaced. "You still haven't heard anything from him? Even with your empathy link?" Percy shook his head.

We had completed our inspection of cabins, and I started for the Big House, expecting him to head to his cabin.

"Annabeth," he said. My heart leapt, and I tried to force it down. But he'd stopped me. At the tetherball courts, which were not known for being that romantic, but still. He'd stopped me. "Listen, I had this dream about, um, Rachel."

PERCY JACKSON YOU ARE AN OBLIVIOUS, BRAINLESS NEANDERTHAL.

I could have killed him. I'm not even kidding. He explained the dream, and I counted to ten, then one hundred, just so I wouldn't rip his head off. And he thought her dream would be true.

"We'll just have to be ready," I said, refusing to look him in the eye.

"How? Look at our camp," Percy said, gesturing around. "We can't even stop fighting each other. And I'm supposed to get my stupid soul reaped."

I threw my scroll down on the ground fed up. "I knew we shouldn't have shown you the prophecy," I said, halfway to tears and halfway to rage, "All it did was scare you. You run away from things when you're scared." I doubted he'd get the meaning I intended.

Sure enough, he said, "Me? Run away?"

I walked up to him, and got right in his face, "Yes, you," I said with as much contempt I could muster, "You're a coward, Percy Jackson!" To my horror, I began feeling tears well in my eyes. All of this time, all he cared about was Rachel, and I was fed up. Being so close to him, I could see him go from confused to finally understanding what I was saying. Stupidly, before I could stop myself and let him explain, I said, "If you don't like our chances, maybe you should go on that vacation with Rachel!" I spat the last word, the name that, to me, meant everything that was wrong.

"Annabeth –" said Percy, the tone he always used when trying to get out of being responsible.

"If you don't like our company." I didn't know what I was saying. But I knew what I meant – he chose Rachel over me again, and it hurt, much more than I'd want to admit.

"That's not fair!"

I pushed him away and punched a tetherball, heading towards the strawberry fields.

I reached them and dashed behind a tree, and, finally, after holding them back since we'd heard about Beckendorf, I let sobs wash over me.

None of this was right, and none of it was fair. And Luke – even though no one knew it, I could have stopped all of this. Everything that I'd been bottling up for ages flooding out of me, about Luke, Percy, Kronos, Beckendorf, Rachel – and I was worried someone would find me here.

After a few minutes of sobbing my heart out, feeling sorry for myself, I began to get mad.

"That's not fair?" I said to no one in particular, "Not fair? You're obviously choosing Rachel over me. You're so stupid, Percy Jackson! Why don't you just go off and get killed by L –"

But despite the anger I felt, I couldn't force myself to finish the sentence. As much as I hated it, I didn't want Percy to die. I wanted him to live, to choose me after all this stupidity was over, and to make the decision to give up on Rachel and choose the person who had always been there for him.

Me.

"Stupid Percy," I said, kicking at a rock, "Stupid, oblivious, brainless Neanderthal. I hate him." But I knew I didn't. And that's what bugged me the most.


	16. Wedding Fails

_A/N: Set in probably March or April between BotL and TLO._

_Also, the opinion of Rachel in this is specifically Annabeth's – I actually don't have any problem with Rachel now that she's not a threat. I just didn't want to get any "WHY DO YOU HATE RACHEL SO MUCH?" comments. I'm just trying to write every character as Annabeth views them._

_Merci to MHLL for being my Percabeth assistant : P._

_Read, review, enjoy!_

"Whoa."

I messed with my blue dress and the goofy little flower in my hair, "What?" I asked, feeling like a hippie princess, "What? What's wrong?"

Percy shook his head. "You're…I like that color."

"Thanks."

"I feel like a hippie."

"I like the look," said Percy, "You're in a dress – I never thought I'd see Annabeth Chase in a dress."

"Oh shut up, Seaweed Brain. I never thought I would see you in a tux!"

He shrugged, looking far too good doing so, "It's my mom's wedding. I'm the best man. I've got no choice."

The ceremony was small – I actually was surprised I had been invited since Percy had barely been talking to me much, but I was happy nonetheless. My stepmother had helped me pick it out – along with buying me a bundle of garishly colored bras that I couldn't decide what to do with.

"So," I said, following Percy into the small church, "How many people are going to be here?"

"Only a few people," he said, sitting down in one of the pews, "From camp I only invited you and Grover."

"Ooh," I said, trying to conceal my happiness, "I'm special."

"I couldn't have my two best friends not at my mom's wedding."

The kid knew how to say the exact wrong things, I could give him that.

"Yeah," I said, plastering a fake smile on and trying to force myself not to roll my eyes, "How about Tyson?"

"Dad needed him. He couldn't come."

"So I take it Poseidon isn't coming?"

Percy laughed. "Are you kidding me? He sent the invite back to my mom with a letter telling her how sorry he was that he couldn't come and that he wished the two of them all the best," he looked off to the front of the church, where soon his mother would marry, "He always thought she deserved the best."

"Well," I said with a smile, sitting down next to him, careful not to trip on my heels that I was definitely not used to, "Paul seems awesome. You like him, right?"

Percy nodded, "A lot. He's great, actually. Helps me with my homework in exchange for me not telling my mom about how we had the Clinique lady pick out her Christmas present. And he's been great about all the guy talk we've been having about –" he paused, looked at me, and gulped, "About…Guy stuff."

"Guy stuff?"

Percy seemed like he was choking on something. "Um, yeah, just, like, cologne and stuff…"

"Cologne?" I asked with a laugh, "Seriously."

He blew my last comment off, "But, yeah, it's not him I'm thinking of…It's just that…I'm worried I'm ruining her life."

I was blown away. "Percy," I said, putting my hand on his arm, "You're her son. She loves you more than anything. Don't waste your time worrying, and don't waste it worrying about this. You're one of the greatest guys, people even, that anyone could meet, and all of us are lucky to know you. Don't worry about disappointing your mom or that she doesn't love you – you're awesome, Percy," He was looked at me funny, "Objectively, of course."

"Right," said Percy, a new smile on his face, "Objectively."

P-P-P-PAGE PAGE BREAK, P-P-P-PAGE BREAK.

"I now pronounce you man and wife."

Mrs. Jackson and Mr. Blofis kissed, and Percy pointedly looked away, meeting my eye. I smiled at him and waved.

I was seated three pews back next to Grover, and there were only 6 pews full. Percy waved back, and then waved to someone behind me.

A group of three guys and two girls. One girl had flaming red hair.

Rachel.

"Stop rolling your eyes," said Grover, poking me in the side, "It's rude, we're at a wedding."

"I wish I hadn't turned around," I muttered.

"Oh, shut up," said Grover, rolling his eyes, "They're friends, you and he are – well, sort of friends. Did you ever talk about that kiss?"

"I told you not to talk about that!" I said to Grover, standing to leave the pew. I turned around and glared at him, "You were not supposed to hear Thalia and I talking about that."

"You were on Camp property," he said, shrugging, "It's not like I was wrong for being there."

"Well you shouldn't have been eavesdropping."  
"I'm sorry."

"And I wish you hadn't told me you knew three minutes before the wedding."

"I forgot!"

"Hey guys!" said Percy with a giant grin on his face, "Whoa, what's up?"

"Nothing!" Grover and I said together.

Percy got that weird pinch faced look that meant he was confused. "What's going on?"

"Nothing?" I said, smiling like a buffoon, "You've got a new step dad!"

"I know!" said Percy, for once looking entirely happy. The last time I saw him looking this fully happy and just a teenage boy was – oh. That was when we kissed.

I blushed at the memory.

"Annabeth, you look like your brain is exploding."

"I'm fine!" I said, "Let's get to the reception, shall we? We don't want to be late."

"It's next door…" said Percy, looking concerned. "Grover, is she okay?"

"Yeah," said Grover. He was a terrible liar.

"Well, I'll meet you two over there," said Percy, the smile back on his face, "I've got to go back over with the wedding party. Pictures and all. Go ahead – I put you guys at a table with my friends from Goode."

The second Percy left, Grover looked over at me. "Baa," he said.

"Did he really just say we were at a table with Rachel?"

"Yes."

"That boy doesn't think."

"He's a boy," said Grover, offering me his arm, "We don't think until it's too late."

I linked my arm around his, and the two of strode out of the church, and walked the block down the street to the little room for the reception. It was modestly decorated, but a perfect match for Mrs. Jackson's classic personality.

Being in that room for a moment made me forget about Rachel and just be excited for Percy's new family.

The small group of people, no more than sixty, was told to sit down as we waited for the wedding party to make their grand entrance.

First was Percy, holding the hand of one of his mother's friend's daughters, the flower girl. He gave me a little wave as he walked in.

Next was the normal procession of the party, with a radiant Mrs. Jackson and a smiling Mr. Blofis as the grand finale.

I made an effort not to even look at Rachel, because I was sure if I did I would end up punching someone.

"Annabeth?"

And of course she would ruin my plan by noticing me first.

"Rachel?" I said, feigning surprise, "Oh, wow, I didn't know we were sitting at the same table."

"Percy probably just forgot to tell you," she said with a laugh.

"I – OW." I had meant to say something in response to that, but Grover, bless his little heart, kicked me in the knee.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked. She sounded concerned, but she was probably just faking it.

"Yes," I grumbled.

Rachel's smile faltered, but she recovered quickly, "Um, this is Kevin," she pointed to a boy with blonde hair, "This is Jack, this is Patrick, and this is Bethany. We're in Percy's class at school."

As if on cue, Percy waved to the seven of us from the head table, and then he and his mom went to do the mother son dance.

"That's so cute!" said Rachel with a stupid looking grin on her face.

"It is cute," I said, trying to stop myself from being so bitter. I was being ridiculous, I thought, there's no reason that I should resent Rachel. I mean, I thought, it's not like Percy's dating her and didn't tell me, right?

And she's not the only girl friend Percy had at Goode – the other girl, Bethany, was there too.

"Annabeth, you look like you're about to blow up," Grover whispered.

"I'm fine," I said, shaking my head to clear my thoughts. I looked over at Rachel, who was chatting animated with one of the Goode boys. I think she said his name was Kevin. I was jealous of her – and I didn't even know why.

PAGEBREAK

"Come on," said Percy to all of us at the table, "Why won't you dance?"

Grover waved the crutches in the air, which he had broken out just in case someone had wondered about his gait, "Really man?"

Percy laughed, "Okay, fine, Grover can sit this out. But you guys better come…Dance!" At the last word, Percy did a strange little jig.

The entire table burst into laughter.

"What?" he said, "What? What's wrong?"

"You look like an idiot!" Rachel and I said at the same time.

That was weird. We exchanged a look.

"I don't feel like dancing," I said. Out of nowhere, a headache was brewing.

Rachel and all the other Goode friends stood up and headed to the dance floor.

"Okay, fine," said Percy, grabbing my hand, "If you won't dance on your own, I'll make you."

He yanked me up by the hand, and I had to smooth down my dress to make sure I didn't fall over on myself and end up flashing the entire reception.

"So, uh, how do I do this?" Percy asked, grinning sheepishly.

I rolled my eyes. I always had to do everything. "Give me your left hand," I put it on my waist.

"Really?" said Percy, looking jumpy, "There?"

"Yes, you idiot, now give me your other hand," I clasped it in my right.

"Now what do we do?"  
"I don't know," I said, trying to find the beat of the music, "You asked me to dance."

"I did, didn't I," said Percy.

Whoa, I thought, starting to dance slowly, he asked me to dance.

And unlike back at Westover Hall a year ago, he was taller than me. Even when I was in heels.

"When did you get tall?" I asked, having to tip my head up to look him in the eye.

"I don't know," he said, shrugging, "I guess I grew?"

"I'm in heels," I said, sticking my foot out, "Kitten heels, but still, heels, and you're taller than me."  
"So?"  
"I'm not okay with that."

"You don't want me to be taller than you?"

I opened my mouth, about to say "No," when another thought popped into my mind – if he was taller than me, I could wear heels to my spring Formal.

Where did THAT come from?

First of all, I reasoned with myself, Percy was in New York and I was in San Francisco. I had to beg my parents for weeks to let them give me these plane tickets for Christmas. I even sacrificed my trip to Greece for Spring Break to come here. Percy wouldn't be able to ship out to San Francisco for something as silly as a spring formal. It wasn't even prom.

And second of all, why would I want him to come?

"Annabeth?" asked Percy, looking down into my face, "You've been acting weird all night. Are you okay?"

I nodded, "Yeah," I said, still confused, "I'm fine."

"Slow song."

"Yup."

I didn't know why he mentioned it, or what he meant by it, but nothing changed. The two of us just kept dancing – swaying really – and somehow I ended up with my head on his chest.

"Annabeth?" Percy said when the song was nearly over.

"Yeah?" I said as I lifted my head off of his chest.

"I –"

"Mind if I cut in?" Rachel asked with a grin on her face. Her hair, previously tamed in a pretty bun, had loosened so much of her hair that it was framing her face in a way that mine just…Couldn't.

"No," I said, disappointed as I'd ever been, "Go ahead."

When I went back to the table, Grover smiled apologetically. "Need a hug?"

"No," I said, beginning to get annoyed, "I need to stab a certain half blood."


	17. Piper's Scipt

_A/N: Another one that's somewhere between K+ and T. There's nothing explicit, but a little bit of innuendo pertaining to past events and someone gets kicked in a sensitive area. _

_I got, for Dec. 2010, 10,731 hits to Illogical and Stupid and 93 reviews._

_May I just say IGHDFUGDFGHFDGUDF AHHHH! Thank you guys so freakin' much! I want to do something to celebrate the 100__th__ reviewer – maybe write a special story for them about any plotline they would like? That's probably what I will do. Reviewer number 100 will get to choose a specific Percabeth themed story that I will dedicate to them._

_Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, favorite'd or alerted. Happy new year and thanks a ton!_

"I couldn't love you more than I do right now."

"You're everything I could want, my love. I can't imagine my life without you."

"You are the peanut butter to my – oh, you cannot be serious, Piper." I closed the script and glared at my friend. "Really, Piper? The peanut butter to my jelly?"

Piper pouted. "Is it really that bad?"

"Do you want us to be honest?" Percy asked, nodding down at the collection of paper in his hand in disgust.

Piper sighed, "Okay."

"Even with charm speak you'd fail."

"Percy!" I said, hitting him on the arm with the script, "Couldn't you at least be nice about it?"

"She said to be honest!"  
"You're such an idiot."

"You're such a control freak.

"You're such a –"

"Can I write a play on you guys?" asked Piper, interrupting our little spat.

"Oh, come on," I said with a laugh, "Like we're interesting enough to write about."

"No, really!" Piper said, looking more excited than I'd seen her since Jason had officially ended it with Reyna, "Professor Banks wanted us to write a love story script. And you guys have the cutest little love story ever."

"No one would believe half the things we'd tell you, we're demigods." said Percy laughing, "We started dating after I asked her out in letters made of water. I mean, our first kiss –"

"Was when Annabeth thought you were going to get murdered by demons!" said Piper excitedly, "How much more romantic could you get?"

"How about not ditching me for Rachel for nearly a year," I said, bumping Percy in the hip with mine.

"I thought you were over that!"

"I am, of course," I said, "But it's still fun to bring up to see you get all flustered."

Percy crossed his arms and glared at me. "You're impossible."

"Oh, shut up, you love it."

"Well, you never saw me deny that."

"YOU GUYS ARE TOO CUTE!" squealed Piper, "Please?" she said. I could feel the charm speak begin to work on me, "Please let me write the story on you two!"

Like always, Percy fell for the charm speak in about three seconds, "Okay," he said, a faraway look on his face, "Yeah, of course, what do you need me to do?"

I whacked him on the arm, which we'd figured out years ago was one of only two ways he would snap out of it. The second, well, even I wasn't a fan of that one.

"Annabeth," he said, smiling at me, "Why wouldn't we want to help Piper out? It's just a little play. Just a play."

"Where we would have to tell her all about our romantic life, and you know Piper," I leaned in to whisper into his ear, "She'd want to know everything. EVERYTHING."

"Oh, come on, Annabeth!" said Percy, still smiling, "It's just a little favor."

I sighed. "Piper, can you turn off the charm speak?"

"Hey," she said, raising her hands in front of her, "It's not my fault that I do a teeny bit of charm speak and he's mentally incapable of doing anything useful for the next six hours."

"This is your fault," I said, resigning myself to the fact that I would have to resort to the last maneuver that could knock Percy out of his stupor.

"Percy, I'm really sorry, but it has to happen," and I swung my leg and kicked him right in the crotch.

"POSEIDON'S HANDKERCHIEF!" screamed Percy as he fell over sideways, looking as if the world had just ended, "What the hell was that for?"

"First of all," said Piper, laughing manically, "Poseidon's handkerchiefs? What kind of expletive is that?"

"I don't care, my girlfriend kicked me in the family jewels!" shouted Percy, glaring at me. Suddenly, it seemed like he made the connection and the glare was replaced by a look of realization. "Oh, crap."  
"Yup."

"Piper, you need to stop charm speaking so well. Bad things happen when you do it."

"I did it as lightly as I could!" said Piper, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes, "Annabeth never reacts and you react after barely a sentence."

"I do not want to do this for you now, Piper," said Percy, still curled up into a sad little ball, "And never charm speak me again. It hurts."

I offered Percy my hand. "Come on, tough guy, stand up," he took my hand and stood up gingerly. I stifled a laugh, "I'm sorry I had to kick you, but you didn't respond to the arm slap."

"Yeah," said Percy sadly, "I guessed."

"About the play –"

"Piper," I said, rolling my eyes, "You and Jason have an adorable story. Why don't you write that one? It's just as unbelievable and romantic as ours is."

"We're not allowed to do stories based on our own life," said Piper, "That was last month's script assignment."

"Can't you do one about Silena and Beckendorf?" Percy asked, "Theirs is quite the Romeo and Juliet story, but that was a hit, right?"  
Piper and I rolled our eyes. "Seriously?" Piper asked, her hands on her hips, "A HIT? It's a classic love story."

"That I hate."  
"How do you hate Romeo and Juliet, Annabeth?"

I shrugged. "I'd rather read Othello."

Piper sighed, "You intellectual types, not giving the proper appreciation to love stories. But I can't do Silena and Beckendorf."

"Why not?" Percy and I asked at the same time.

"I didn't know them. And I don't want to ask people about them. It would bring up bad memories."

"Well," I said, looking around the camp, "I have a feeling they'll be able to talk about it if you approach it gently. It's been five years since the two of them died – this would be a really good way to honor their memories. And you'll be able to learn more about your sister, since you two never met."

Percy looked at me and mouthed, "Nice!" I nodded to him – coming up with ways to weasel out of uncomfortable situations had become one of my talents over the years of being with Percy.

Piper sighed, "Well, I suppose I could do a story about them."

Yes! I thought to myself, Choose them! Not Percy and I! Because our story is odd, and because you would so much rather do a Romeo and Juliet type story involving your sister!  
"But I'd rather write my story on you two."

Oh, the slow agony of defeat…

"Fine," I said, giving up, "Fine, but I'll tell it."

"Why can't I tell our story?" asked a pouting Percy.

"Because," I said, "You'll get it all wrong."

* * *

Three weeks later, Piper, with a giant smile on her face, came to Percy and my apartment with her script in hand.

"93!" she said, excitedly, "I got a 93! And all because of you two!"

"I'm really glad," I said to her, "Do you want something to drink?"  
"Nah," said Piper, "I've got to get back to my dorm – finals and all. But I'll leave the script here for you guys to look at. Thanks so much!"

Piper ran out of our apartment, and Percy and I stared at the short script as if it was about to eat our faces off. We'd faced more horrible adversaries than this before, but we were afraid of it.

"It's our story from the perspective of Piper," I said, not moving my eyes from the stack of twenty five sheets of paper.  
"I know."

"I'm worried."

"I know."

"She did really well on it though, so it must be good."  
"I know."  
"Would you stop saying that you know?" I asked, poking him in the side.

"I'm going to read it first."

"Why not me?" I demanded.

"Because if you read it first," he said, wrapping his arms around my waist, "You'll spoil the ending."  
"Percy," I said, turning around to face him, "It's us. It's our story."  
"Yeah," he said with a smile, "But how you and Piper tell it. I want to see if it matches to how I tell it."

"You tell it wrong."

"I do not!"  
"You do too."  
"Why don't you want me to read it first?" asked Percy, stepping back and putting his hands on my shoulders, looking me dead in the eye, "What did you tell Piper that you don't want me to see?"

I blushed. Damn that boy for seeing right through me. "I – nothing, it's nothing. Go ahead."

"You told her about the TV incident, didn't you."  
"I did no such thing."  
"You're a terrible liar."

"I am not."

"You told her – she probably wrote like six pages on that," he said, turning red, "Oh, gods, that's so embarrassing!"

"Well," I said, cracking up, "You leapt up while we were making out and started watching the Incredibles when you saw it was on. It pretty much defines our relationship."

"Would you shut up about that?" he said, blushing and laughing.

I pretended to think about it for a moment, "Nah," I said, "I'd rather just bug you about it."

"You're so annoying, Wise Girl," he said, pulling me towards him.

"And you're a doofus, Seaweed Brain."

We never got around to reading the play that day.

We were too busy writing the sequel.

_A/N2: I'M SORRY. THE ENDING IS SO CHEESY. BUT I HAD TO WRITE IT. I couldn't resist!_


	18. Kiss then Kill

_A/N: Jelly beans. I blame cancelled plans and jelly beans for the absurdity that this chapter is. I keep feeling like I should do a serious chapter, but serious Percabeth is harder to write. Thoughts?_

_Thanks to MHLL for helping!_

_Oh, and I am so not okay with having no idea how many hits I got yesterday. Fanficition, y u no work?_

_To _DaughterofPosiden3611_: Reyna was very briefly mentioned towards the end of TLO and *SPOILERS* it was hinted that she and Jason may have had a relationship prior to him being swept off by Hera._

_*END SPOILERS*._

_Thank you to all who have reviewed/favorite'd/alerted – it never ceases to make me smile._

_Read, review, enjoy!_

"I still can't believe it's all over," I said, leaning backwards into Percy. We were sitting by the water, two nights before we were done with camp, "Kronos is gone, another prophecy has been made, I'm staying in New York, Rachel's not dating…"

"I like how you slipped that last one in with all the other things," said Percy, kissing me on the top of the head.

I shrugged, "It was a big deal to me. I thought you were going to pick her over me. Which would be just so stupid that I would have had to kill you."

"I don't doubt that."

"Well," I said, turning around to look at him, "All is well. All the crazy stuff we've been through is over," I kissed him lightly, "And now we can just relax."

"Relax?" said Percy, a funny look in his eye.

"Yes…?"

"I don't think so." Percy began working the waves so they were coming closer to us. I tried to get up, but the stupid kid was tickling me to the point where I could barely move.

"Stop…It…Can't…Breathe!" I tried to say.

"Hmm," said Percy, relentless, "Nah, I think I'll keep this up."

"I'm going to get soaked!"

"Nah."

"Look! A penguin!"

Percy let go of me and turned around. "Where?"  
"YOU ARE SO DUMB!" I exclaimed, running away from him.

I didn't exactly think it through, though.

"Hah!" exclaimed Percy when the water wrapped around my waist, picked me up and set me down right in front of him, drenched. "There was no penguin!"

Percy, in one smooth move, made the water push me into his arms, picked me up, and kissed me full on the mouth.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to me, reveling in the feeling of his strong arms around my waist.

"You know," I said, brushing the sopping wet hair out of my eyes, "It's hard to believe that I'm the only girl you've ever kissed, Seaweed Brain."

Percy's reaction was not what I expected. He sputtered and blinked, "W-what?"

"I…I just mean that you're a good kisser…" I said carefully and slowly. "What's wrong?"

Percy took a step back, and continued to sputter like he was the one who was just submerged in sea water, "I…You…It never…Cars…Prius…Then Beckendorf…I didn't…Not…After…"

"Oh, hell, she kissed you didn't she."

"It…Sort…May…Yes?" said Percy, wincing.

"Oh." I honestly didn't know how to react.

Percy, on the other hand, looked like he knew how I'd react. He got up and ran.

Doofus.

"Where are you going?" I called, jogging after the idiot I called my boyfriend.

He didn't answer, but kept sprinting to the Big House. When I got there, he was nowhere to be found. "Hey, Chiron," I said, still peering into doors, "Have you seen Percy?"

"He just ran in here a moment ago. It seemed he was under the impression that you were about to kill him."

"Aren't I always?"  
Chiron chuckled, "I suppose so. The past two weeks the two of you were either kissing or in the middle of a heated argument."

I shrugged, "His fault. Always his fault. Did you see where he went?"

Chiron nodded up the stairs, "He sprinted up to Rachel's room. He yelled something about how she should hide."

I rolled my eyes, "Why is he so stupid?"

"Because you terrify him."

It was moments like those when I found Chiron's wisdom to be a little too much for me to handle.  
I grumbled something about him being a wimp and that's why he was scared, and I made my way up to Rachel's room. Before I opened the door, I stopped. They were talking.

"It's all your fault. You and your stupid lips. That kissed me. She's going to kill me, and it's all your fault. I survive Kronos, and my girlfriend is the one who is going to kill me. My luck…"

"She's not going to kill you, Percy."

"That's right!" said Percy, his voice an octave higher as it always got when he was in full on oh-hell-Annabeth-is-going-to-kill-me mode, "She's going to kill you! She's going to kill you nice and dead and the oracle is going to disappear."

"Kill me nice and dead. It's a wonder she can put up with you, really."

I pressed my hand over my mouth so I wouldn't break into laughter. Once Rachel proclaimed that she wasn't going to be dating, I allowed myself to become friendly with her, and I realized that the two of us had a lot in common. Both artistic in some way, Rachel with painting and me with architecture, and both of us were easily fed up with people being dumb.

Namely, Perseus Jackson.

"Oh, would you shut up, Rach? I swear, sometimes you're as annoying as she is."

Rachel laughed at that, "See, she wouldn't have killed you until you said that. Now that you said that, she might rip your head off and feed it to Typhon."

"She'll never find out about it," laughed Percy, "BUT SHE HAS FOUND OUT ABOUT THE TWO OF US KISSING."

"She knows you called her annoying."  
Percy scoffed, and I heard him give a nervous laugh, "Oh sure," he said. I could almost hear him rolling his eyes. Cocky little demigod. "How can you possibly know that?"  
"I'm the Oracle," said Rachel, "She'll know."

"How?" asked Percy, sounding mystified, "Did you see a vision of it?"

"Nah," said Rachel, "She's standing outside the door."

At this, I pushed in the door. "Hiya, loser," I said, leaning against Rachel's bedpost, "How's it hangin?"

Rachel looked like she was about to die from trying not to laugh.

"Please don't kill me," Percy squeaked.

I laughed, "I'm not going to kill you," I said, "It was forever ago, right?"

Rachel and Percy exchanged a look.

"Oh, jeez," I said, putting my head in my hand, "When was it?"  
"I SWEAR," said Percy, putting his hands up, "She kissed me, I didn't know what was going on!"

"Way to throw me under the bus," said Rachel, rolling her eyes.

"And you never know what's going on," I said with a little laugh. Rachel gave me a high five.

"Why aren't you going crazy with battle rage?" asked Percy warily, "We kissed. I thought you would have given the two of us a first class ticket to Tartarus by now."

"Nah," I said, shrugging, "Just when was it?"

"Um," said Rachel, looking a little uncomfortable, "The day that Percy went to the Princess Andromeda mission."

"Oh," I said, laughing awkwardly, "So, like, only a little while ago. Like three weeks ago." Why was I feeling a little giddy and light headed and like I wanted to punch out a certain demigod?

Percy started to step away. "I swear, it hasn't happened since then. Or before then. That was the only time, I promise."

"And I kissed him, Annabeth," said Rachel, "Don't worry about it – there are exactly zero feelings there anymore. Actually," she said, tilting her head, "I'm really not sure there ever were feelings, per se. More an attraction to the whole Grecian deal."

"Hey!" said Percy, looking offended. He caught my look, and backtracked quickly, "N-not that I'd want her to be attracted to me. No, not at all," he laughed uncomfortably, "Where would you get something like that?"

"You're acting like a spaz."

"He is a spaz."

I high fived Rachel, "That, my dear," I said with a smile, "Is why we are friends."

"You aren't planning on gutting her in her sleep?" Percy asked.  
"No," I said, giving him a weird look, "Why would I do that?"

"Because she kissed me! We kissed! You're not the only girl I've ever kissed! Aren't you, I don't know, a little unhappy with that?"  
I looked between Rachel and Percy. "No," I said, with complete honesty, "Because I was your first kiss and all – Rachel was just…" I paused, trying to find the right word, "A minor interlude, that's all. And it's not like we were already dating or anything."

"Right."

"So, any new prophecies?"

Rachel and Percy were looking at me dumbfounded. "What?" I asked.

"I think I'd be more comfortable if you were mad at me…" said Percy.

I shrugged, "Do you want me to be mad at you?"

"I don't know," he said, "I can't decide."

"Can you guys come up with this outside my room?" Rachel asked, gesturing with a paint brush, "I'm sort of in the middle of something."

I nodded, "Come on, Seaweed Brain."

When we got out of the Big House, Percy was looking at me like I had three heads.

"Okay, seriously, WHAT is wrong with you?"

"I don't know!" said Percy, "Why aren't you mad?"  
I shrugged, "It was in the past. There's nothing between you two anymore. We're together now. We kicked Kronos' butt. It seems useless to be angry about something that can't be changed and that isn't important anymore."

"When did you get so logical?"  
"I've always been logical."

"Fine then," said Percy, pulling me into a hug, "When did you stop being jealous?"

"When I realized that you only get that look on your face after looking at me or being with me."

"What look?" Percy asked.

I kissed him and, about two minutes later, when we came up for air, he was looking at me like the world could have collapsed behind him and nothing would have changed. "That one."

"Uh duh?"  
"Yeah," I said, giving him a kiss on the cheek, "That too."


	19. The Spy who Confused Me

_A/N: Jelly beans, I swear it, they make me write crazy stupid stuff. I'm really sorry these have been so ridiculous lately – I'll try to do some romantic or serious ones…Erm…When I run out of jelly beans._

_Which will probably not be any time soon, since I got a lot for Christmas. Oh dear._

_I think there are minor Heroes of Olympus series spoilers in here, but there probably aren't since it's mainly my prediction, and my book predictions are nearly always wrong. Example: I thought Harry would die, that Hagrid was the Half Blood Prince, and that Neville would kill Bellatrix and end up with Luna._

_Still bitter about those last two._

_And thank you SO MUCH for all the reviews – on this and on Loser of the Rings. I kind of had a mini spaz attack when I saw how many people reviewed and favorite'd still. I love you guys, you rock!_

_Anaid T, because Jamie Daughter of Artemis has given up her 100__th__ reviewer space, you get a story of your choosing because you were reviewer 101. Let me know what you want for a story!_

_Sorry about this massive author's note. Read, review, but first and foremost enjoy!_

"Hello, love struck teens."

"Nico!" I exclaimed, yanking my shirt back into place, "Have you ever heard of knocking?"

Percy picked himself up off of the floor where he had landed.

"No," said Nico, clapping slowly, "Stay there. Better yet, rewind that. I'd love to see you jump off of Annabeth and land on your butt on the floor again. Greatest thing I've ever seen. Sitcoms are probably dying to get the rights to that move."

"I hate you," I said, trying to stop myself from laughing or killing Nico – I couldn't decide which impulse was the hardest to fight.

"Aw," said Nico with a snarky grin, "What a shame."

"What do you want, kid?" Percy asked, draping himself casually over one of my sibling's chairs.

I couldn't decide if it was attractive or annoying how at ease he was now that he was invincible. I had a feeling that after being offered immortality, he had a high opinion of himself.

What a goof.

"First off, I'd like you to stop acting like you're a god – oh wait, you almost were," said Nico playfully, "Secondly, Chiron needs to talk to you two."

"Any idea why?" I asked, pulling my hair back into a messy ponytail. I wasn't even going to bother trying to make it look decent – as long as it was back I wouldn't have to deal with any probing questions.

The fourteen year old shrugged, "Probably something about how the heads of the Poseidon and Athena cabins needed to stop groping each other in public."

"I hate you."

"Aw, no you don't," said Nico, putting an arm around my shoulders. I was still four inches taller and four years older than he was, and he still managed to put on a patronizing tone, "You think I'm adorable."

"No," I said, pushing the skinny teen out the door with a laugh, "I think you're too young to be allowed out in public without supervision."  
"Oh, come on!" said Nico, throwing his hands in the air, "What if I –" I didn't hear the end of his sentence, since I'd slammed the door on him.

"He talks too much," said Percy, running a hand through his hair, "And I'd like him so much more if he acted like a normal human being when he busts in on us in compromising positions."

I checked in the mirror to make sure there weren't any pieces of clothing betraying our actions, "He's a normal human being when it comes to all other interactions," I said, adjusting my ponytail, "He's just immune to awkward."

"Lucky kid…"

This wasn't the first time he'd walked in on Percy and I kissing. And this wasn't the first time he'd stayed there acting weird for way longer than necessary. It was almost like Nico was put there to interrupt us whenever things were getting…Heated.

It made me uncomfortable to realize how often he managed to pop in.

Actually, I thought, too often for it to be a coincidence.

"Oh, no," said Percy, "You've got The Look."  
"What look?" I asked absentmindedly, trying to work out the exact details of each of Nico's inopportune interruptions.

"The I-just-figured-something-out look. It's worrying me a bit."

"Someone's using Nico as a look out."  
"What are you even talking about?" Percy asked, sitting next to me on the bed, "Hades wouldn't give a rat's rump if we were kissing. Athena would pick pretty much anyone over Nico. And you're being paranoid. Why would someone spy on us when we're together?"

"I don't know," I said, standing up and pacing, "Maybe because my mother hates you, or someone wants us to break up." I turned around. "Percy, maybe she's trying to get us to break up."

Percy laughed.

"What's so funny?" I demanded, throwing my hands in the air, "How is that funny at all?"

"You really think I'd let your mom break us up?"

"She's a Greek god, Percy."

"Yeah," said Percy with a smirk, "Not going to happen."

"What isn't?"  
"Us breaking up," he said, pulling me into his lap, "If someone is trying to use Nico to spy on us, we'll figure it out. And then, if it's not someone who will incinerate me with a glance, I will pummel them."

"Why can't I pummel them?" I asked, pretending to pout.

"I'm invincible."

"But I'm more awesome than you are."  
"Oh," said Percy, "Oh, sure."

I pulled him close to me, but just as the kiss got heated –

"You know, guys," said Nico, rolling his eyes as he leaned against the doorway, "I'm sick of this. Chiron needs to talk to you."  
"WHO DO YOU WORK FOR?" I shouted.

As opposed to an answer or a cowering demigod, I got a blank stare.

"Dude, what's wrong with her?"  
Percy shrugged, "So many things…"

I refused to dignify that with a response. "Seriously," I said, walking over to Nico, "You're always here when we're –"

"CUDDLING," interrupted Percy, sending me a look, "You always barge in while we are cuddling. And it's annoying."  
"It sure is."

Nico shrugged, "I've got bad timing. It seems to be a pattern with me."

"Yeah it is…" Percy muttered.

"Seriously, Nico," I said, patting my right thigh where I knew my knife rested under my jeans, "You're telling me. Now. Who is making you spy on us?"

"What are you even talking about?" exclaimed the fourteen year old, looking at me as if I had fifteen heads, "Percy's cabin is a three second walk from here – Chiron always makes me come fetch you guys and –"

"AHA!" I said, triumphant, "Chiron has sent you!"

"What…?"

"Chiron is having you spy on us for him, because he'd be the one getting in trouble if Percy and I were up to any shenanigans!"

Nico's only response to this was, "You've mastered Greek and English and the best word you can come up with to describe all this is 'shenanigans?'"

"Shut up, Benedict Arnold!" I said, pushing past him and darting out the door. Nico mumbled something about how he probably broke a bone and that I was a nutcase, but I ignored him.

"Annabeth, wait!" said Percy, but I was already running far ahead of him.

I ignored the funny looks from people as I darted out of the Poseidon cabin and realized I had forgotten to put my Yankee cap back on. People didn't exactly know I was in there.

There was also the slight detail that I wasn't exactly allowed to be in there with Percy alone.

Oops.

I skidded to a halt in front of the Big House and stormed into Chiron's office, "Excuse me," I said, trying to keep my voice calm, "But Nico," I put a lot of hidden meaning into the name, "Said you needed to see Percy and me."

Chrion nodded, smiling. He obviously didn't know that I had uncovered his scheme to keep Percy and me apart.

"Actually, I was just planning on having a meeting of the head counselors about the upcoming Greek and Roman camp meeting discussion post war reconstruction."

I rolled my eyes, momentarily forgetting my annoyance, "It's always post war reconstruction, isn't it? For once I'd like to see it happen that we have to discuss a post war pot luck…"  
Chiron chuckled and smiled. "So, you and Percy –"

At the mention of his name, I remembered why I was actually there. "When were you going to tell us?"

Chiron looked confused. "What was that, Annabeth?"

"Oh, come on," I said, my hands on my hips, "You've been having Nico spy on us and interrupt us whenever Percy and I are making out! I'm shocked that you manage to catch us like a good fifty percent of the time, it's impressive, really, but it's completely inappropriate! And having one of Percy's best friends do it?" I was rambling, but I didn't seem to be able to stop, "That's just wrong! And really creepy! I'd get it, sort of, if it was Athena or something, because she absolutely hates the idea of Percy and me together, but really, Chiron, Percy and I aren't stupid. Well," I paused for a moment, "I'm not stupid," Percy scoffed in indignation, but I ignored him "And it's not like you'd be the one getting in trouble if we did something stupid. Which we won't. So why the heck are you spying on us?" I finally looked at Chiron, who looked like someone just smacked him in the face with a fish. "Don't you trust us?"  
"Annabeth," he said, sounding confused, "I have no idea what you are talking about."

I blinked. "You don't?" Chiron didn't lie. Ever. It was against his moral code, and he just…Couldn't.

Immediately, humiliation washed over me. "Oh, dear gods."

I turned around when I heard someone laughing. Nico was doubled over, leaning against the door frame to keep himself from falling over from laughing so hard. Percy, on the other hand, was staring at Chiron in horror. "Annabeth," he said, "What…Did you…Just…Do?"

I was beginning to realize the predicament I had just created.

"Can you pretend you never heard any of that?" I asked Chiron, feeling my face go cherry red.

Chiron stared at Percy and I, looking between the two of us as if the world had just ended, "What has been heard cannot be unheard," he said in such a morbid tone I could have guessed that someone died, "Annabeth, Percy, I won't tell you parents, but…" He closed his eyes and looked like he was trying to erase his memories from the past three minutes, "Please leave my office before I open my eyes so I can pretend that was all a horrible nightmare. You too, Nico."

Percy and I bolted out of the room like we were on fire, but Nico leisurely sauntered out, his laughter just enough so he could still walk.

"How could you let me DO that?" I asked Nico, halfway to killing him.

This only made him laugh harder, "Dude, I told you I wasn't a spy. I told you I just had awful timing. You're the one who jumped to your crazy conclusion."

I glared at him. "Well you could have stopped me…"

"You pushed me into a wall!"

We walked back to the Poseidon cabin, and I ignored Nico when he said goodbye.

"Annabeth," said Percy, the look on his face a combination of horror and amusement, "I think you've gone completely crazy."

I nodded. "Why did I think of that? Why am I such a nutcase?"

Percy shook his head. "No idea. Oh, and by the way," he said, throwing a pillow at my face with a laugh, "Thanks for calling me stupid."

_A/N2: …I LOVE NICO!_


	20. Getting Along

_A/N: Set around October of Annabeth and Percy's sophomore year of high school, right before the start of TLH. In my mind, Annabeth's birthday is in January after Percy's. Also, there is no mention of Annabeth's stepmother's first name, so I named her Christine._

_Thanks to __AnimalBuddy32__ for the idea for this story!_

_Oh, and serious for the first time in ages? Must be the lack of jelly beans.  
Read, review, enjoy!_

"Annabeth?" called Percy from the door, "Are you here?"

"Yes!" I called, "Just a sec, I need to figure out where – aha!"

I grabbed the owl earrings from my desk and put them in.

I walked to the door and pulled it open. Percy stood there, handsome as always, smiling. "Hi, Percy!"

"Hi, Annabeth," he pulled me in for a light kiss, "I've missed you."

I laughed, "Percy, I saw you on Sunday."

"Yeah, and that was nearly five days ago. Things are boring when I don't get to see you."

I gave him a little hug. "You ready for dinner?" I asked. I took a deep breath and fidgeted with my shirt a little bit, trying to make it not as low cut as it looked.

"Hey, you look great," he said softly, moving my hand and smiling at me.

"It's not you I'm worried about," I said with a smile, "My dad will freak out if sees me in a low cut shirt."  
Percy looked at me funny. "You're fifteen."  
"And my dad still thinks I'm eight."

Percy moved my hands, preventing me from messing with the shirt anymore. "Annabeth, it's going to be okay. It's just dinner."

I took a deep breath, "Dinner. Right."

"Your parents are meeting us at the restaurant?"

"My dad and step mom," I corrected him, "And yes, they had to pick Bobby and Matthew up from the summer camp they're at. They'll meet us there in," I checked my watch and nearly threw up, "Oh, gods, twenty minutes!"

"Annabeth, it's a three minute walk from your dorm."

I looked up at Percy, panic in my eyes, "Yes," I said, "But I hate being late!"  
Percy laughed and pulled me into his arms, giving me a quick kiss on the top of my head. As always, it calmed me. "You're a nut bar, Annabeth, we're not going to be late."

"But what if I am late? They would be so mad at me…They've been dying to see you again, and I really don't want to mess this up…" I searched my dorm room one last time to make sure I didn't forget anything, and sure enough, I had left my cell phone on my desk. I snatched it up and put it into my purse.

"You're not going to mess this up, you spaz," said Percy, taking my hand, "It's going to be fine."

The two of us walked out the elevator and, despite Percy's ramblings about how he didn't feel like going down the stairs, the descended the four flights.

"I can't believe you're still making me take the stupid stairs," grumbled Percy, "I hate walking."

"Oh shut up, you're invincible," I said, pushing open the door to my dorm room, "It doesn't hurt you at all, you little whiner."

We walked the three minutes until we got to the restaurant, and we arrived right before my dad, step mother and two brothers.

"Annabeth!" called Bobby, running up to me, "Look, Mommy got me a new DS game!"

"She got me one too!" said Matthew, pushing Bobby out of the way.

"Hey, guys," I said, reaching down for a hug. As usual for boys this age, they darted away from it.

"Who's that?" the two of them said at the same time.

"This is Percy," I said with a smile, "He came by the house about three years ago, in December of that year, do you remember?"

Matthew shook his head, and Bobby said, "No. I can't even remember what I ate for breakfast!"

The only person who laughed was Percy, the only one there who didn't know Bobby's annoying tendency to think he was going to be a standup comedian.

"See?" said Bobby, looking up at my parents and me, "See? I'm hilarious!"

"Yes, Bobby," said my step mother like she'd said it a million times, "You're a riot."

Bobby, with a giant grin on his face, pulled out his DS and began playing it in the middle of the restaurant.

"Chase, party of six?" called the host.

"That's us," I said, "Can we have two children's menus?" I asked.

"Of course," said the host brightly, leading us to a booth. I had a weird moment trying to figure out where to sit. Percy slid into a booth first, and my dad slid into the other booth.

Were they trying to make me choose?

"Here, Bobby," said my step mother, "You sit next to Annabeth and Matthew will sit next to us." She sent me an unexpected smile, and I returned it just before she turned away.

"So," said my dad, "How are things at your school, Percy?"

My boyfriend shrugged, "It's good. Now that things have gotten less chaotic and that I've gotten settled into my sophomore year, everything's going pretty well."

My dad smiled and my mother nodded curtly. She placed education high up on her list of priorities, and Percy played a good card by not mentioning how this was the first year he ever got an A in a class that wasn't gym.

I smiled at that thought – a particularly interesting math study session led him to acing his first exam, and now he can't look at the quadratic formula without blushing.

"What are you thinking about, Annabeth?" my dad asked. If it had been anyone else I would have found it to be a weird question, but my dad just thought he could get into everyone's heads.

Unfortunately, what I was thinking about at that moment made me jump about sixty five feet in the air.

I didn't know why, but I lost focus whenever I would think about Percy and me, our moments together. I had asked some other children of Athena if this happened to them – but it only seemed to occur with people who were married or in love for a really long time. I hoped this boded well for my relationship and Percy's.

But it definitely didn't bode well for my attempt to retain composure at this dinner.

I smashed my knee, the one I had injured that weekend while instructing some of the younger campers, into the top of the table.

"Oh holy Zeus," I exclaimed, my eyes bulging open and my eyes beginning to water.

"Annabeth? Are you okay?" my dad asked.

"What'd you do this time, Wise Girl?" Percy laughed. I hit him on my arm.

"Stop talking, oh gods, wow that hurts."

Bobby, Matthew and my step mother just looked at me, concerned.

"Sorry," I said quietly, "Just hit my knee," I shook my head and bent my knee. I could move it – it wasn't broken. And I compared every injury to supporting the sky – if it didn't hurt half of that, it was nothing, "Nothing's broken, don't you worry."

Percy looked at me like my brain had fallen out of my rear, and I couldn't say I blamed him.

I was acting like a spaz, just like he had said.

"Annabeth," said my step mother, "Do you need any aspirin?"

I shook my head. "No, Christine," I said with a smile, "I'm okay."

The waitress came over, wearing one of those fake, plastered on smiles that show they've been there for far too long that evening. "Hi," she said in a smooth tone, "I'm Kelsey, and I'll be your waitress today. Can I get your drink orders?"

Christine ordered waters for all of us. The one thing that annoyed me most about her was how controlling she was – no matter what, she made the decisions.

"What are you thinking of getting, Percy?" I asked. He was pouring over the menu, his brow furrowed in deep concentration.

"Are you having trouble making the decision?" I asked with a laugh.

"No," said Percy, "I'm trying to decide which menu to hit you with."

"What?"

He grabbed my menu out of my hand and started hitting me in the arm with it, and I grabbed his and started hitting him.

It was a few seconds later before we realized that this impulsivity was even less appropriate in a restaurant out to dinner with my parents than it was at Camp Half Blood.

I braced myself for someone to comment on it.

"Hah!" said my step mother, "Nice one, Annabeth!" To my surprise, she took the menu out of my father's hand and whacked him on the arm with it. "Let's keep these boys in line, shall we?"

"But not me!" said Bobby with an angelic smile, "Because I'm cute!"

We all laughed, but I wasn't sure if it was because of Bobby's joke or because Christine and I were finally getting along.

lizinebrizake

After we finished our meals, Christine said, "Before we head out, I need to head to the bathroom. Annabeth?"

I almost commented on how ridiculous it was that girls need to go to the bathroom in groups, but something in my stepmother's tone suggested that this wasn't just a silly thing.

"Sure," I said, about to move.

"Bobby, move so your sister can get out of the booth."

Something in me swelled. Sister – my stepmother had just called me Bobby's sister.

That was a first.

Bobby moved out of the way to let me out, and Christine and I headed towards the bathroom.

"Annabeth," said my step mother when it appeared that we were alone in the bathroom, "I needed to speak with you about something that is very long overdue."

She let the moment stretch out for a moment, as if preparing herself. "Annabeth, I was wrong how I treated you when you were seven. I should have made you want to welcome me as a part of the family, not force you out. You were a mere child with only your father, it was abhorrent of me to try and break that. I knew the moment we discovered you ran away that I had been wrong, but I couldn't figure out how to tell you until now. Annabeth, you've grown into a wonderful, strong, young woman. I am proud to call you my step daughter, and I hope that someday, not that you can forgive me, but that you can possibly move past it and perhaps not hate me."

I was about to try and tell her that was impossible, but I realized something. I didn't want to waste any more energy making myself dislike her.

"I don't hate you," I said, surprising myself. "And…I think, eventually, I can move past what happened. All of it needed to happen, you know," I said, "Because otherwise I wouldn't have gotten to this point. I may never have met Percy, or Thalia, or –" I stopped before I mentioned Luke, "Or any of my other camp friends. I may never have met my mother. It's all looking good now, though, "I smiled, "I'm really glad we got to meet up for dinner today."

Christine smiled at me, and reached her arms out. I moved into her embrace.

"I'm glad you came to visit, Christine," I said into her shoulder.

"I'm glad as well, Annabeth. And so are your brothers and your father."

linebreak

"I think I know why you didn't get along with your step mother, Annabeth," said Percy, stretching himself across my bed. I tried not to think about how comfortable he looked there, "Or," he amended, "Didn't let yourself get along with her."

"And why is that?" I asked as I leaned against my desk.

My family had left an hour before, but my school's visiting hours on weekends were until eleven at night, so Percy and I still had another two hours before he had to leave.

And, like always, he would stay for a much longer time than allowed because my roommate went home on weekends, and we made good use of my Yankees cap.

"She's so much like you."

I lost my balance and fell onto my butt, astounded. "What? That's ridiculous!"

"Face it. You're both kind of bossy, neither of you like to be out of control, and you're both the more sensible and logical of the couple you're in." I tried to interrupt, but Percy kept talking, "And the biggest one is that both of you have far too much common sense for your own good."

I blinked at him, "I'm not bossy! Don't call me bossy! And wipe that grin off of your face."

"Bossing."

I glared. "You're such a loser. I'm nothing like her!"

"Well you two get along now, right?"

"Well, yes, but –"

"So why not accept that you're alike because those qualities are good?"

I blinked, "What do you mean?"

"Bossy and in control means independent. Sensible and logical has always been a good thing – and you're smarter than me. And common sense is a good thing for a demigod, and for a normal person. Annabeth," said Percy, standing up and helping me off the floor, "Just roll with it."

I shrugged, "I suppose. And they still live in San Francisco, so I guess I don't have to put up with her that much – I just have the last memory of the two of us getting along."

Percy nodded and pulled me into his lap. "Exactly," he said, kissing me on the top of the head, "Now, for once in your life, will you chill out?"

I playfully hit his arm, "You're mean."

"You're a spaz"

"Shut up."

"Bossing again."

I smacked him in the face with a pillow.

"Well," he said, giving me a light kiss, "Now that all that is over," he kissed me again, a little harder, "What shall we do now?"

"I think I've got a pretty good idea."


	21. Squirt Guns and Decisions

_A/N: I blame this kind of crazy on watching The Nanny at 2:30am. _

_Random venting: why is the story traffic link so messed up? Oh, fail…_

_As always, read, review, and most importantly enjoy!_

"Oh, sure," I said, unbuttoning my shirt, "You can handle spaghetti sauce. You can make it without ruining everything. You won't trash my kitchen or completely ruin my clothes. Go ahead. I can trust you."

"I'm sorry!" said Percy, trying to scrub tomato out of his jeans, "At least you don't look like the artery in your leg exploded."

"No," I said, pulling the shirt off and searching for something to take the dark red out of the light blue, "I just ruined one of my favorite shirts. Oh wait," I said with a laugh, "No, you ruined one of my favorite shirts!"

"Well," he said, eyeing me, "I'm liking the end result."

"Don't you ogle me in my shirtlessness. This is not some cute plot of yours to get my clothes off."

Percy grinned, "Oh is it?"

I picked up a dirty shirt from my laundry, and chucked it at him. "You're such a slime ball."

"I am not!" said Percy, grabbing a pair of his jeans that had ended up in my hamper, "You just don't have a sense of humor."

"Oh!" I said, hatching a plan, "No sense of humor?"

"No!" said Percy, "You are a boring old daughter of Athena with no measurable sense of humor."

"Fine then," I said as I walked towards the kitchen, "No sense of humor my butt."

I grabbed the squirt guns Nico got me for Secret Santa that Christmas – he was never the best at shopping for girls – and filled them with ice cold milk.

"Suck on this one, Perseus!"

All he did was scoff when he saw the squirt guns, "Oh, jeez, Annabeth, way to think that one through. It's water. It won't even affect me."

"How do you know?"

"I'm the son of Poseidon, water never affects me. Therefore, I win."

I began to aim with the two guns, "No," I said with an evil smile, enjoying the realization on his face, "How do you know it's water?"

"Oh sh –"  
"DRINK MILK, SEAWEED BRAIN!"

"Oh yeah?" he said, picking up a shirt from the ground, "Surrender, or the shirt gets it!"

"That's your shirt, dummy!"

He paused for a moment. "Oh, would you look at that, it is."

"Sucker!"

The look on his face was priceless when I got him right in the eye.

Within the next twenty seconds, he was drenched in milk, and I was laughing my head off.

"You lose!" I shouted to my boyfriend.

"Really?" said Percy.

I knew that look.

I feared that look.

I ran for my mommy and cried as I hid behind her when I saw that look.

Now it was my turn to say, "Oh sh –"

Percy came flying at me, and I ducked. Unfortunately, his idea was to throw me over his shoulder, and start carrying me.

"Percy!" I yelled, laughing, "This is so not okay!"

"Oh yeah?" he said, "Well if this isn't okay, wait for this!" He was heading towards the bathroom, and before I knew it he had filled the bathtub, and was about to dip me, face first, into freezing cold water.

"I hate you, Perseus Jackson," I said, trying to fold my arms across my chest while upside down. "I really freaking hate you."

"Hmm," said Percy, dipping me slightly lower so that the tips of my hair were getting soaked. "I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"Because if you hate me then I would have to dip you into the tub."

"Try me."

"Fine then."

Luckily, I managed to prepare myself for the cold.

What I didn't prepare myself for was the water going up my nose. I started kicking Percy and coughing, and he pulled me out of the water immediately.

"What?" he asked, panicking. He put his hands on my shoulders and began examining my face, "Annabeth, what's wrong? Did you drown? Are you okay?"

My response was me shaking my head and then a sneeze. About a fish tank full of water came out my nose and mouth.

I'm so attractive.

Percy's face was priceless, though. "Oh," he said, wincing, "Okay then. I have never been happier that I am immune to water."

I coughed a little bit more and blew my nose, trying to get that horrible tingling feeling out of my nose. "Yeah, sorry about that," I said, "Ugh, I hate this feeling of water up my nose. I probably look so pretty right now. Really. I should be in magazines."

Percy brushed a lock of hair behind my ear, "You always look pretty Wise Girl. Beautiful, really, but they're pretty much synonyms."

"You're such a corny goof, Percy," I said, standing up and offering him my hand, "And I really need to get dry."

"Hold on, let me get you some clothes."

I smirked, "Don't worry, you've seen it all before."

Percy blushed lightly and I laughed. "You're so weirdly modest. There's a bunch of your clothes here and besides, I reorganized all my drawers and my closet. You have two whole drawers now in here."

Percy all of a sudden gave me a look. "I have an idea."

"Yeah?" I asked, grabbing a towel and drying my hair.

"No, seriously," he said, following me out of the bathroom and into my bedroom, "I have an incredible idea. But you're going to think I'm crazy."

"Aw," I said, digging through my drawers for a whole new change of clothes, "I always think you're crazy."

"Let's move in together."

I turned around from where I stood, "What now?"

"Let's move in together!" said Percy, his face lighting up the same way it does any time he thinks he as an incredible idea. "Before you say no – oh, wow, wait, before I say anything, stay like that."

"I'm not staying undressed for this kind of conversation, Percy, I'm cold and soaked."

Percy sighed dejectedly. "Fine."

I changed into a pair of sweatpants and a shirt from my freshman year at Columbia. "Okay. Now for the proper reaction to what you just said. WHAT?"

"Think about it!" said Percy, taking my hands, "We're twenty three. We've both graduated from college. We both have our own apartments in New York, but we essentially live here at your place. I'll move in here, we'll pay rent together, we'll be able to save up money for grad school. And for…" Percy paused here, as if he was catching himself before he said something he didn't want to say, "Other things."

"Percy," I said, sitting down on my bed, my head spinning, "This apartment is so small, can we really fit all of our stuff in here?"

Percy laughed, "Annabeth, I don't have too much more stuff in my apartment. I still live with my mom, but I pay rent. I'd much rather pay rent with you and live here."

"I just feel like this is all moving so fast…"

Percy laughed, "Annabeth, we've been dating for more than seven years."

"But…But…"

"But what?" Percy said, sitting next to me, "Come on, Annabeth! Take a risk! Do something impulsive! Do something that could make your mom mad!"

"Oh, gods!" I exclaimed, "My mother, what's she going to –"

Percy shut me up with a fiery kiss. "That's exactly it!" Percy exclaimed, "Do something ridiculous that everyone's going to question! Do something loony! Be a maniac!"

"This is such a crazy idea."

"I know!"

I took a deep breath. "Let's do it."

Percy jumped up from the bed. "Really?"

"Yes!" I said, laughing a little hysterically, "Let's do it! We'll confuse the hell out of everyone, and it's such a crazy idea…Let's do it!"

Percy wrapped his arms around me, and we fell down into my bed, kissing.

"I love you, Wise Girl," he whispered into my shoulder.

"And you're a lunatic, Seaweed Brain."


	22. Darn That Boy

_A/N: Yesterday, my expletive of choice was, "Holy Hera." PJO, you officially rule my life._

_By request of MHLL, this is from BotL pages 78 to 80. Thanks MHLL!_

_I got in trouble for staying up to write this last night, so I really hope it's worth it! _

_Also, I never get bored of people telling me they love my stories – each review, favorite or alert email I get makes my heart leap about a foot, and I can't even begin to tell you how happy it makes me._

_Thank you guys SO much. You rock!_

_Read, review, enjoy!_

It was too much for me to handle.

After the first quest, I thought I was ready for my own. I practically leader Grover and Percy to each of our destinations, I made the plans, I did most of the work. I was twelve years old and more mature than most teenagers. Even some adults. I thought I was ready to lead a quest of my own.

After the second quest, I knew I was ready for my own. We returned the Golden Fleece, we helped Clarisse, we rescued Grover. I knew I could do it all on my own – schedule it all, figure everything out, do it all.

After being taken, being forced to bear the weight of the sky, I was more than positive that I was ready for my own. I held the sky, I was shut in a room in a ship for longer than I wanted to think about, I was hurt by the one person who promised to protect me. I was positive that I could do it all on my own.

Now, I was a wreck. I had the quest I'd been dreaming of for years – and now I was doubting myself. Could I do it? Was this going to end so badly that I'd wished I didn't choose this?

What if I got Tyson or Percy or Grover killed?

The thought hit me like a train – it would be my fault.

I leaned against the table, my palms flat on the surface, breathing deeply. I needed to do this. I could do this. I could feel the stress beginning to build, the fear, the anxiety, oh, gods, it was these times when I wished I had the old Luke here to comfort me. As always, the frustration brought about from the stress began to physically form in tears. I hated how I cried when I was so stressed – I barely cried, I tried not to cry, but no matter what the stupid tears always came whenever I felt overwhelmed.

I hated it.

I tried to shake myself out of it and picked up a scroll. "Okay, Annabeth," I said to myself, taking another shaky breath and squeezing my eyes shut, "You've got this. You can do this."

"Knock, knock?" said a voice.

I nearly jumped three feet, but instead transferred it to spinning around abruptly.

Darn that boy for startling me. "Oh," I said, glad for some reason that it was Percy, "Hi. Didn't hear you."

"You okay?" he asked. Oh Hades – I must be looking terrible if the ever oblivious Percy was asking if I was okay.

I glared down at the table, angry at myself for looking like such a wreck. "Just trying to do some research. Daedalus' Labyrinth is so huge. The maps just lead from nowhere to nowhere." And it was driving me mad and it makes me want to kick something, I wanted to add, but I thought it would be inappropriate to vent to Percy.

"We'll figure it out," said Percy with the characteristic Percy shrug. Of course he thought it would be figured out. La-dee-dah Percy Jackson never had to spaz out about these things – his version of being a demigod was riding off into the sun like a white knight to battle to forces of evil, while I chased after him with the actual plans.

Boys.

I always needed plans. I always needed to know things. But this wasn't easy to know. This was probably the one quest that was most perfect and most terrifying for me. It involved intricate architecture and uncertainty, change. I wasn't sure how easy it would be to deal with that.

"I've wanted to lead a quest since I was seven."

"You're going to do awesome."

His optimism was both infuriating and invigorating, making want to shoot him a smile and shoot him with a gun at the same time. I chose the former, deciding it was the most explicable action.

"I'm worried, Percy," I blurted out, "Maybe I shouldn't have asked you to do this. Or Tyson and Grover." I didn't want to meet his eyes, ashamed that I had admitted all of this. I was preparing myself to hear him say that he thought I wasn't prepared or old enough to do this. That he didn't want to accompany me, because it was a lost cause.

"Hey, we're your friends. We wouldn't miss it." As always, the word friends punched me in the gut for some reason, but this feeling was drowned by my gratefulness that he wasn't leaving me to do this on my own. He knew the risks but still wanted to help out.

Even so, I was worried he was making a mistake, that someone would die. It already implied that I would – the child of Athena's final stand? Yeah, that boded well…

"But…" I said, but I stopped myself. I didn't want to say the last part. To lose a love to worse than death…This confused me more than anything. Did it mean my mother? My father? Or a love like – like…I resisted the urge to pull my hair. Luke? Or Percy? I didn't even know if I even had feelings for Percy yet! And now I could lose him to worse than death? Well, I thought, at least if I did lose him I'd understand my feelings for him…

"What is it?" Percy asked, uncharacteristically gentle in tone, "The prophecy?"

Darn that boy for getting inside my head.

"I'm sure it's fine," I said quietly – I would not give him the satisfaction of letting him see me break. I didn't know why, but I was worried that if I broke in front of him, things would change. I could feel the tears beginning to well in my eyes, and the next word I said about it, they would begin to spill.

"What was the last line?"

PERCY JACKSON, GET OUT OF MY HEAD.

Before I knew what I was doing, I held out my arms. I, for once in my life, really, REALLY, needed a hug.

Percy stepped forward and I folded into his arms, leaning my head on his shoulder. My arms were loose around his shoulders, but his around my waist felt secure. I wanted to kick myself – I wasn't the pathetic, weepy girl who needed a big strong man to hold onto them when they cried. I WAS NOT SOME PATHETIC ROMANCE NOVEL BIMBO. But there I was, in his arms.

Darn that boy for making it feel right.

"Hey, it's…It's okay," he said, giving me an awkward pat on the back. I sniffled and began to shake lightly, which only made me feel even more ridiculous. Really, though, I thought, I need this. I need to just…Percy. I need him for this one little moment. And for the quest. I needed all of them for the quest.

"Chiron might be right," I said into his now damp shoulder, "I'm breaking the rules. But I don't know what else to do. I need you three. It just feels right."

"Then don't worry about," he said. I could feel his breath on my hair, and it sent a jolt through my stomach, "We've had plenty of problems before, and we solved them."

"This is different," I said, wishing I could just stop being so secretive and tell him of all people about the last line. But I knew if I did, I would have to admit to myself that I had feelings for a certain son of the sea god that I wasn't supposed to have feelings for. Or that I had feelings for a certain traitor to the Olympians that I really wasn't supposed to have feelings for. "I don't want anything to happen to –" I just barely caught myself, "Any of you."

I barely glanced up before Malcolm, from the door, said, "Um, sorry. Archery practice is starting, Annabeth. Chiron said to come find you."

Percy, quick thinking and eloquent as always, stepped away from me and said, "We were just looking at maps," in a voice that clearly said we were doing something different. Because you really need to be hugging someone else to be studying maps.

Darn that boy for being so awkward.

"Okay," said Malcolm, giving Percy a weird look.

"Tell Chiron I'll be right there," I said, giving Malcolm my leave-now-or-forever-wish-you-had look. I cleared my eyes of the tears and said, "You go ahead, Percy. I'd better get ready for archery."

Percy nodded, but something in his eyes worried me. There was something odd about the look. "Annabeth?" he said, confirming my fears, "About your prophecy. The line about a hero's last breath –"

"You're wondering which hero?" I said, trying to make clear the fact that I didn't want to talk about the last line, "I don't know."

"No, something else. I was thinking the last line usually rhymes with the one before it. Was it something about – did it end in the word death?"

The hammer that smashed my heart nearly sent me into a panic attack, but I hid my horror by staring down at the scrolls so I wouldn't start freaking out.

Darn that boy for being unable to read my mind.

"You'd better go, Percy," I said, trying to steady myself, "Get ready for the quest. I'll –" I almost told him what the last line meant, and how worried I was for him. I almost told him I wished he could stay with me a little longer, that I wished he could just make it all better. But I didn't. "I'll see you in the morning."

He left, and I stared at the maps blindly, replaying the scene in my head, hating myself for my tears.

Darn that boy for making me wish he would stay.


	23. One Tree Hill Reruns and Confessions

_A/N: HOLY HERA._

_I started writing this chapter on the 4__th__ I believe. On the 6__th__, I discovered I was going to be an aunt. LIVE REFLECTING FICTION. I also hit two thousand hits on my stories in one day on this day, so I can easily say that the 6__th__ was pretty awesome._

_I am so happy right now! I hope you love this chapter, because it was so fun for me to write! It was really long, so it's a two parter, with the second coming tomorrow probably._

_Also, if you have any ideas, send them over! I'm running low, and I want to keep going with this fic! I promise I will credit you for your ideas._

_Read, review, and enjoy!_

"Oh, gods, you're so beautiful. Just…Just let me taste you, gods, you're so hot! Oh, I have never been happier than I've been right now…"

"Percy," I sighed, "Please stop making love to the beef wellington."

Percy looked up from the plate, "But," he said, staring at the food on his plate with a look I rarely saw him give even me, "Annabeth, it's so delicious."

I smiled smugly, "See?" I said, cutting myself a piece, "I can cook. I just can't cook easy things."

"Like spaghetti?" Percy asked with a sparkle in his eye.

I rolled my eyes, "Like spaghetti. But you can't cook that either."

Percy didn't respond. He was too busy staring lovingly at the dinner I had just cooked.

I took a deep breath, needing to tell him something.

"Um," I said, "Percy?"

"Yush?" he said, his mouth completely full, "Yush, oh domeshtic goddesh?"

I laughed, "Domestic goddess, that's a new one." I took another deep breath to steady myself – it would go fine, he wasn't going to freak out, everything would be okay. I hoped. "Um, I have to tell you something."

Percy swallowed, "Oh, right!" he said with a smile, "Me too!"

"You go first," I said quietly.

"Okay," said Percy, an excited light in his eyes, "So earlier today, when Nico and I were chasing after that hell hound that was after that young half blood –"

"Young half blood?" I asked, "I thought the two of you were going out for drinks."

Percy shrugged, "Actually, the drinks turned out to be Nico's way of saying 'hey I have a mission that I don't want to go on alone so let's go together then get drunk'."

"Ah," I said, "And you still haven't caught on to that, have you?"

Percy shook his head, "No. But it's okay. The half blood was okay – he was claimed in the middle of a gym class, and it turned out the teacher was a monster who wanted to chase the kid down. Not the best way for Apollo to have claimed him but, hey, the kid's alive and at Camp Half Blood and happy."

"Hold old was he?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. I wanted Percy to keep talking so I could get up the courage to tell him my news – I wasn't sure how he'd react.

"About nine," he said, shoveling some more food into his mouth, "But he took it pretty well. He's quite a tough kid. He thought it was pretty cool to finally be able to get to Camp Half Blood, because he always felt, and I'm quoting him here, 'out of place. Like I didn't belong to this world.'"

"Wow."

"I kid you not."

I took a bite of potato, "It seems he really took after his father."

"And his mom writes songs for Disney."

My fork clattered onto my plate, "Oh, gods, he must be the worst poet in the world!"

Percy nodded, "Even so, though, he's a good kid. But, as I was saying, the good part of the story. When Nico and I got back to Camp Half Blood, Chiron was waiting to ask us – drum roll, please – if we wanted to be instructors next summer!"

"Oh," I said, worried, "Do you want to?"

Percy nodded, "It'll be awesome. We'll get to hang out with our old friends, be demigods, be awesome again," I managed to crack a smile at that one, "We have nothing better to do – and this is going to be awesome. What do you say?"

"I'm –" But I couldn't say it, "That sounds fun."

Percy nodded with a grin on his face, and shoved another spoonful into his mouth, "Oh, gods, it's so good…"  
"Did you and Nico ever end up going for drinks?"

Percy shook his head and swallowed, "Nah. I wanted to come back here and tell you about being counselors. And Nico wanted to go see Rachel."

I smiled, "Oh, I see."

Percy and I continued to chat with small talk, and eventually he finished with his food.

"That was the most delicious thing I have ever tasted," he said, smiling down at the plate.

"Glad you liked it."

The two of us put our plated away and moseyed on over to the living room.

"Okay, what do you want to watch?" Percy asked, flopping down on the couch, "Because I'm thinking One Tree Hill."

"We are NOT watching One Tree Hill reruns again."  
"Fine," he said, "Ooh, look, Hercules is on!"

"You just like it because you like to pretend you're dating Meg."

"Nah," he said, pulling me into a rough hug and kissing me on the cheek, "I'm good with my halfblood girlfriend. Plus, her hair is weird."

"Let go of me, you goof!" I said, wiggling out of his grasp.

"I am sorry I hugged you, oh domestic goddess," he said, turning towards me. He had a silly smile on his face, and before I knew it, I blurted out, "I'm pregnant." Percy dropped the remote, and turned towards me. "Yeah, I'm…I know we weren't planning on having a baby any time soon. I know that you really wanted to go to Camp Half Blood, and that you were so excited about it – I just –"

Percy, unexpectedly, pulled me from my spot on the couch and onto his lap. "Are you serious?"

"Of course," I said, "Why would I joke about this?"

"Oh gods!" Percy pulled me towards him and pressed his lips against mine. I could feel his smile as we kissed.

"So you're happy about this?" I asked, "Because I was worried that you'd think it was too soon. Or that you wanted to wait. Or that you wouldn't be happy about this. Are you happy?"

"Happy?" Percy exclaimed, "Happy? Happy is when you told me you were making dinner and when I realized it was actually delicious. This?" he said, pulling me into a bone crushing hug, "This is…Oh, gods, Annabeth – I haven't been this ecstatic in ages!"

I smiled, "And you're not upset that this means we can't be instructors next summer?"  
"We can't?"

"No, of course not," I said, a little nervous, "Um, we'll have to stay home and take care of him or her. We won't exactly have much time for other things."

To my surprise, Percy's face split into a grin, "You mean we get to hang out at home together taking care of our baby? That's awesome! Besides, Nico can handle the camp on his own. Chiron can recruit some other people. Oh, Annabeth, this is…Oh my gods this is incredible."

"Oh, good," I said, "I was worried you were going to think it was much too soon."

Percy gave me the look that I usually ended up giving him. "Too soon? Really."

I shrugged. "We're only twenty six."

"We've been together for ten years, and married for two. I think it's time to throw a mini me into the mix."

I looked at him incredulously, "You? Another you?"

Percy nodded, "Yeah! And he'll be all about the water. Or she. Or both – do you think it could be twins?"

"Gods, I hope not," I said, not wanting to think about how much that would hurt.

"Aw, come on, two little babies taking swimming lessons, having epic water powers, it'd be awesome!"

"Why not a smart kid like me?" I asked, trying to hide my smile.

"Because we can't have more than one person in this house who is smarter than me."

I smiled and cuddled into his arms, "I can't believe I was so busy the last couple months that I didn't find out before…"

"How far along are you?" Percy asked, absent mindedly stroking my hair.

"The doctor said nearly three months – apparently I missed my entire first trimester."

"So that week where you were throwing up was morning sickness?"

I nodded, "Apparently."

Percy looked at me, confused, "Then why was I throwing up?"

"Sympathy hurler?" I asked, "Some people are like that."

"I hope that I'm not," he said, shuddering, "Because that would mean that I'd throw up each time our baby would throw up."

"Our baby…" I said, lightly touching my stomach, "Oh, gods, Percy, we're going to have a baby!"

Percy pulled me into his lap, "We're going to have a perfect little baby."

"Well," I said, giving him a kiss on the nose, "Only if the baby takes after me."

The two of us spent some quality time together, and two hours later I sat up straight in bed.

"Oh my gods!" I exclaimed.

Percy sat up in bed, freaking out. "WHAT? What's wrong? Is everything okay?" he turned to me, "Is it the baby? Are you and the baby okay? Here, I'll take you to the hospital, right now. Or do you need an ambulance? Here, I'll go get it –"

I had to nearly tackle him so that he wouldn't go for his phone. "PERCY."

"What's wrong, love? Does something hurt?"

"No, you dolt!" I exclaimed, giving him a good natured slap on the back of the head, "Our parents. We have to tell our parents about the baby!"

Percy's eyes lit up. "My mom's going to have a spaz attack!"

"Why?"

"Because she loves babies!"

I smiled. "Well of course she'll love this baby – it's her grandchild."

Percy fidgeted. "What…" I asked.

"Athena and Poseidon are going to be interesting about this."

"Actually," I said, shifting where I sat, "I think the baby might make them change their mind."

"Why?"

"Because they both have a connection to him or her. Maybe it will make our parents stop being such psychos."

Unexpectedly, Percy tackled me with a giant hug. "Baby!"

"Yes," I said, laughing, "Baby."


	24. Grandparents

_A/N: First off, thank you for the reviews, and I'm wicked sorry that there have been so many issues with fanfiction's site lately…It's driving me crazy._

_Also…Part Two of the baby fic!_

_Read, review, enjoy!_

"CONGRATULATIONS!" screamed Mrs. Jackson, pulling me into a giant hug, "Oh, Annabeth, I'm so happy for you two! I can't wait to have a grandchild! Do you know if it's a girl or a boy yet?"

I shook my head, "Actually, I just found out today."

"Oh!" she said, "Wow, you're not very far along, then."

I shook my head, "Actually, I'm three months along. I was really surprised when I found out – I actually expected Percy to think it was too soon."

My mother in law shot a glance at her son. "Percy," she said, "You better have been excited for this baby. Because, gods help me, I want this grandchild to have the best life ever!"

Percy put up his hands in surrender, "I didn't! I mean, I did! I mean, I was really excited about the baby! I still am! OOH!" he said, turning to me, "CAN WE GET A CRIB? Oh, wow, we need to remodel my study, can we move my desk into our room? The baby can have mine."

"Your desk?" Mrs. Jackson asked, a look of confusion on her face. I was pretty sure I looked the same.

"No, my study. That room that I use for my study. Baby's room!" Percy started looking incredibly excited, bouncing around the same way he did whenever I let him have control of the television remote.

"Well," I said, "We've got to be going, Mrs. Jackson, but it was great to see you. We've got to see the other grandparents."

At this, Mrs. Jackson had the exact same reaction as Percy when she heard me refer to her as a grandparent.

"Oh, guys, I'm going to be a grandmother! I'm so excited!" She pulled the two of us – three, perhaps – into a big bear hug. "Gosh, I do hope I don't look old enough to be a grandmother," she said, touching her face as if worried it had transformed into that of an eighty year old.

Percy gave her a kiss on a cheek. "You look great as always, Mom. Don't worry."

"You're…It's…Really?...But you're so young!"

I smiled, "Dad, were twenty six, not sixteen. We've been married for two years – it's time for a baby. And, well, we wanted to let you know before we showed up in San Francisco with your grandkid."

"Wow," said my dad over the phone. I could almost see the smile that was starting to spread over his face, "You're going to be a mom, Annabeth. My baby's going to be a mom. And I'm going to be a grandfather. Oh, Annabeth," he said wistfully, "That's going to be one beautiful baby."

I smiled to myself, "I can't wait, Dad. I really…I can't wait."

I set down the phone after a heartfelt goodbye with my dad, and turned to Percy.

"How'd your dad take it?"

"He was…I think taken aback, really. He still thinks of me as his little girl, but I'm not little anymore, and I think he understood that. I think he's excited to be a grandpa."

Percy pulled me into his arms and kissed me lightly. He put a gently hand on my stomach. "Our baby…"

"We have two more people to tell though…Two more grandparents."

"Yup."

"The immortal ones."

"This should be interesting…"

"THERE'S GONNA BE A BABY?" Poseidon asked, ecstatic. His reaction was not what I expected. I had braced myself for a disgruntled expression, a berating statement, a speech about how we should have waited until we were older.

Instead, Poseidon started to do the same thing as Percy and freak out like a teenage boy hearing about the newest Call of Duty.

"Is it a girl? A boy? What names are you thinking about?"

"We're not sure yet," I said with a small smile, "But you'll be one of the first to know when we find out."

Poseidon clapped Percy on the back. "I was waiting for you guys to give me a grandson or granddaughter!" he said with a smile. "Had me waiting for almost ten years, didn't you!"

Percy went red, "Dad, we started dating when we were sixteen…A kid at sixteen would not have been the best for any of us."

Poseidon laughed heartily, "I suppose you're right. I keep forgetting how the times have changed. But you're giving me a grandkid now!"

"I didn't expect you to be so happy about this, Dad," said Percy, ruffling the back of his hair. I slapped his hand out of the way.

"Stop messing up your hair."

"And you!" said Poseidon, turning to me with a huge smile, "I always liked you, and now I like you even more! Have you told your mother yet?"

"Yes."  
"No."

"Oh, dear," said Poseidon, "I was talking to Annabeth, Percy, but I'm glad you told Sally so soon. You, on the other hand," he said, turning to me again, "Are probably going to have to brace yourself. After the fuss your mother put up after you and Percy," he gave me a look and I was thrown back to the time when Percy and I were eighteen and in the hotel room, and I could feel myself blushing magenta, "Well, she might have some interesting opinions on the two of you having a baby."

"Yeah," I said, brushing a lock of hair behind my ear, "Yeah, that should be interesting to say the least. But hopefully it'll be okay – she didn't throw too much of a fuss when we were engaged or married. And eventually she'll be tolerant, if not happy."

"Yeah," interjected Percy, "If the baby looks like her mom, no one would be able to resist."

Poseidon leaned over and said to his son in a stage whisper, "Kid, you're going to need some less cheesy lines if you're going to keep this girl."

"Oh."

Athena's reaction was the least positive and most worrying of all of them. My mother had an interesting look on her face when we told her, as if she was trying to think about exactly what this meant for her and us.

"Are you…Are you mad, Mom?" I asked, not sure exactly what to say.

"No," she said, "It's just not exactly the best time for the two of you to have a baby, is it? Your apartment is quite small. You don't have that much money saved up. Annabeth, you're trying to use money to go to grad school. Are you sure you're ready?"

I shrugged, trying to keep the disappointment welling inside me from being obvious, "Even if we're not ready, we're having this baby. And it's not like we are questioning our feelings for each other or anything. I feel like no one is ever ready for children – you become ready when you have them."

My mother nodded curly. "Well, I suppose there's nothing that can be changed."

That stung, and uncharacteristically I felt as if I was about to cry. All I did in life was try to impress my mom, make her proud of me. Now, after something that made me so happy, I felt like I was a disappointment. Percy laid a reassuring hand on my shoulder, and for once I was glad he could read my emotions so well. I laid my hand on top of his and closed my eyes, grateful for his support. "Athena, please," he said, "I know you're not happy about your daughter being with me but, please, I think she would really appreciate it if you could be happy about the baby. I love the baby's mother than my own life, and I would do anything to keep both of them happy and safe." Percy gave me the look of love that made me feel like a mushy, girly, mess, and I managed to smile.

"And I feel the same way about Percy, Mom."

"That's quite maudlin for one of my children, Annabeth."

I blushed. I hated how cheesy Percy and I got sometimes – it wasn't exactly that we meant to do it. Occasionally a big ol' bucket of Muenster and Monterey jack just slipped out.

"Mom…Are you…Are you still mad that Percy and I are together?"

She sighed deeply, and took a good look at the two of us. "Does he make you happy, Annabeth?"

I nodded. "Very."

"Then I guess I can't stand in the way of this anymore. I'm not…I still wish you could have picked a more intelligent person to fall in love with," I felt Percy wince beside me. I'd have to apologize for that later, "But as long as he keeps you happy, I suppose I can overlook it. If you ever," she said, turning her gaze to Percy, "Hurt her, make her unhappy, or make her feel alone, you will feel my wrath. The same goes for my grandchild."

"Y-yes, ma'am," said Percy, looking a little bit terrified.

"Good," said my mother, letting a smile appear on her face, "Now, Annabeth."

"Yes?"

"I expect an Iris message the second you find out the gender. I'd like to know exactly what color I should decorate the baby's first notebook with."

I smiled widely, and hugged my mother, "Of course, Mom. No problem."

_A/N2: Oh, gods, the fluff. Please don't kill me for this being a little OOC. Babies make everyone giddy, right? So it's not a punishable offense. Right? –ducks from fisticuffs – _


	25. Lightweight

_A/N: Random fact – the previous two chapters were in reference to Calliope. Percy and Annabeth's baby I wrote about in Christmas Gifts._

_Anywho, thank you so much for reviewing!. I appreciate all the reviews and favorites and somesuches so much!_

_Thanks a million to __Jess the Weird__ for the idea for this story!_

_Read, review, enjoy!_

"You're drunk."

"You're sexy!"

I rolled my eyes. "You know," I said, trying to get Percy to stand up from the bar stool, "It'd be awesome if you could just, I don't know, not be such a lightweight. I haven't seen someone get this addled by four shots since Katie decided she was going to make her own concoction for the Camp Half Blood party two years ago."

"I've got a secret," he said, smiling sloppily and slipping on the carpet. He landed on his butt and smiled. "Whoopsie!"

I pulled him up again, grateful for the training the past summer that focused on upper body strength. Who knew I'd have to haul my drunken boyfriend from the bar to our apartment at one in the morning? "Good for you, Seaweed Brain."

"Nico thinks Rachel is hot!" Percy said, winking like an idiot.

"Great secret, you dolt. Where'd Nico go? I thought this was guys' night, not you getting hammered on your own again night."

Percy giggled like a little school girl. "Nico went home with," he hiccupped, "A girl!"

"Congratulations," I said flatly, "I'll have to send him a Hallmark card. Are there any 'Congrats on your floozy' cards?"

Percy cracked up. "You're funny! You're sexy and funny and pretty. Come home with me, vixen!"

"We've been dating for more than seven years, you idiot."

"I'm a lucky man."

"Glad you've realized this now." I hailed a cab and dragged him in the back seat. I told the driver our address, and Percy added, "I get to live with this sexy thang!"

I made the executive decision that he was too drunk to understand the stupidity of his comment.

"So," I said, "Back to the case of the missing Nico. Was he as hammered as you are?"

Percy giggled again, "Maybe…"

"Oh goody, now tomorrow I'll get a phone call from him asking me to pick him up. Why do I always have to end up babysitting the two of you losers when you go out to have guys' night?"

Percy shrugged, and threw his arms around my shoulders, "Because you're the best person ever."

The one good thing about drunken Percy was that he was incredibly affectionate and appreciative of everything I have done, do or will do. He's also extremely cuddly, which was always a good thing.

Nico, on the other hand, got a little bit too flirty with anything with boobs, which led to him and Percy getting into a few fights with the boyfriends of a few girls that Nico hit on.

Percy was fun to babysit. Nico was not.

"Did he at least end up with a single girl?" I asked, smoothing his hair.

Percy nodded, then said into my shirt, "Hurumph duff muff shuff."

"Come again? My shirt didn't hear you quite clearly."

Percy lifted his head up. "She was pretty. She looked like Rachel with brown hair," he lowered his voice conspiratorially, "I think he likes Rachel!"

I laughed, "Yeah, sure, of course," I said, rolling my eyes, "Like Nico would be dumb enough to fall for with the Oracle of Delphi."

I wasn't sure if I believed myself – the looks the two of them would exchange from time to time made me wonder – but Rachel and Nico wouldn't just randomly jump into something like that.

And Nico was too into the bar scene to get into a serious relationship.

The cab stopped, and I passed the cabbie the money. "You need help bringing him into your home, honey?" he asked, cigarette smoke staining his breath. I tried to not flinch.

"No, but thank you. Have a good night!"

Summoning as much strength as possible, I heaved Percy out of the car and tossed him over my shoulder. I caught the cabbie giving me a surprised look, and I waved at him so he would head out.

"Okay, tough guy," I said, feeling myself start to creak under his weight, "Time for you to come up home." I knocked on the door, and the doorman, Jeff, opened it up.

"Ah," he said with a smile, "Miss Chase. I see Mr. Jackson has been drinking again?"

I nodded. "He decided to go on a guys' night and, as per usual, couldn't stand up after four drinks."

"I'll open your door for you, Annabeth."

"Thank you," I shifted Percy so he was further up on my shoulder, and he grumbled.

"Annabeth!" he said, poking me in the back, "Annabeth, put me down!"

I brushed my hand across the spot on his back, and he immediately tensed and said, "D-don't do th-that," he said breathlessly, "I can't think when you do that."

"Then shut up," I said, starting to get a little uncomfortable with his weight, "and stop complaining. We're almost to our room."

"You're lucky you're on the third floor," said Jeff, nodding to our situation.

"We're really lucky that we decided to move into my apartment. He lived on the twenty second floor. That could have ended very badly."

We reached my floor, and Jeff opened the door for me. "Have a good night, Annabeth, and if he's too much trouble just call the front desk and we'll have someone come up here and whip him into shape," he said with a wink.

"Thank you."

I let Percy slip off my shoulder and fall onto our bed. "Okay," I said, "You need some sleep."

"I almost stayed with Calypso."

I whirled around from the doorway. I had intended to go to the living room and work on some new plans for work, but apparently I wasn't going to. "You WHAT?"

"Almost stayed," Percy yawned, "With Calypso."

I stared at him. "What does that even mean?"

"Calypso. After you kissed me, I went poof all the way to Ogyjia. It was really pretty there. But I came back."

I tried to shake my head to understand this more. "You ended up with Calypso?"

"I thought she was really pretty. But she wasn't like you."

"So that's why you asked for her pardon when you saved Olympus," I said, finally feeling this part of the puzzle clicking together.

"We," said Percy with a goofy look on his face, "We saved Olympus."

I smiled before I remembered I was supposed to be mad at him. "Wait…But you almost stayed!"

"Sort of," he said, stretching out of the bed and leaning on one elbow, "But all I could think about was you. And your hair. And your eyes. And Calypso was pretty. Like she was really pretty. But she wasn't as cool as you. And I didn't want to leave anyone behind. 'Specially you."

I was feeling about fifty different emotions. Why didn't he tell me sooner? Why hadn't he explained this at the time? I had always assumed that he had gone somewhere, how should I put this, interesting after the explosion at Hephaestus' forges, but I never wanted to let myself think Calypso's place. It just felt weird to think that Percy could have met someone who was pretty much a goddess and leave her – from what I'd heard she was gorgeous.

I walked over to our bed before I knew what I was doing, and sat down next to my highly inebriated boyfriend. "Percy?"

"Yeah?" he asked, cuddling into a pillow. He looked ten years younger when he was trying to get to sleep, and it was a weird thing to see. At random points I can see the Percy I met when we were twelve.

I shook myself out of my thoughts.

"Thanks for not staying with Calypso. Nico would have hated to be the person of the prophecy."

* * *

"Ugh."

"Honey!" I said loudly as I walked into the bedroom, "Aw, you're awake! Here, greet the day!" I said, ripping open the curtains to let the sun in.

"NO. NO SUN!" said Percy, cramming the pillow over his eyes, "Oh, gods, how much did I drink last night? Hangover and a half – I wish this was covered by invincibility."

I smiled at him, "Do you remember last night?"

"Vaguely. I was drunk and confused."

"That part was obvious," I sat next to him on the bed and moved the pillow, "Hey, tough guy, wake up. I made you some coffee."

"No coffee. Need bacon."

"Why's it always bacon?"

"Bacon relieves hangovers. Proven fact."

I rolled my eyes, "And dating you kills brain cells."

"Heard that."  
"I know."

I went into the kitchen to try and cook him his hangover cure, and called, "Hey, Perce?"  
"Yeah?" he said, padding into the kitchen in only sweatpants and rubbing his eyes. Casually glancing at his sculpted abs, I handed him his mug of coffee and I took a sip of mine.

"Do you remember the little secret you told me?"

He leaned against the countertop, pressing his forehead to the cool granite, "Annabeth, I could barely remember my own name this morning. Enlighten me."

"Does the name Calypso ring a bell?"

Immediately, recognition dawned. "Oh, gods."

"Yeah. Care to explain when you're at least partially sentient?"

"Exactly what did I say last night?"

"Oh," I said, "Please don't tell me you're going to play this off as some sort of drunken delusion."

"No!" said Percy, "No, no, that's not it. I'm just trying to figure out what you already know."

"How about this," I said, setting my mug down, crossing my arms and leaning against the counter, "You take it from the top and I listen."

"First off, it was nearly ten years ago."

"Well, yes, I get that. I'm just curious why you never told me before now."

Percy shrugged. "It never seemed important. I don't know, nothing happened between the two of us. It could have, but it didn't."

"You think about what could have happened, what you could have been." I wasn't asking a question – it was a statement. I could tell that Percy wondered what could have happened with her.

Percy looked into my face, "Why do you always know what I'm thinking? It's not fair."

I shrugged. "I get you. And, I don't know," I said, letting myself take some time to organize my thoughts with a sip of coffee, "I understand why you still think about her. It's Ogygia. Pretty much a little island paradise."

"I'd rather be here with you."

"I know," I said, leaning across the counter and planting a little kiss on his jaw bone.

"How?"

"Because you didn't stay there. You came home."


	26. More than a Fight

_A/N: Pretend Unbreak You never happened. It's messing with all of my stories from here on out, therefore we shall pretend it never happened. I'm going to rewrite a bunch of the scenes I mutilated in that horror show again and make them actually worthy of Percabeth._

_Ideas! I am desperately in need of more story ideas, so if you have any, any at all, no matter how ridiculous you think it is, I will appreciate it!_

_Thank you so much for reading and reviewing, and enjoy!_

"Spar with me!" I said, a light in my eye, "Come on, let's settle this argument once and for all. Like we did that time before the Battle of Manhattan. Come on, your odds are good, last time you won. I mean, you did cheat, using water and all, but –"

"No."

I blinked up at him. "What?" I asked, my laughter slowly dying, "Why not? We always spar."

Percy opened and closed his mouth like a fish on dry land, and finally decided on, "I don't want to fight you. I'm stronger than you are. It's just the way it is."

I let my hand drop to my side, my mouth hanging open. "Excuse me?"

Percy shrugged, and sat down on his chair, "I'd hurt you. You're weaker than I am, it's a fact. You're too fragile for me to fight with – I'd hurt you too easily."

I strode up to him, "Technically I'm twice the fighter you are, Perseus," I said, spitting his name and glaring into his eyes, "You just have that stupid extra invincibility thing and that totally unfair water advantage. In every other aspect, however, I'd kick your skinny butt."

"No," he said, "End of discussion, I don't want to hurt you in a fight."

"End of DISCUSSION?" I felt my voice rise, but I didn't care, "Exactly what right do you have to say something like that to me? What," I said, laughing mirthlessly, "Oh, right, because I'm a woman I'm stupid and weaker than you. I forgot. I'm supposed to cook dinner and do the laundry and be the baby maker, just because I have boobs. Of course!" I yelled sarcastically, "Hold on, let me go get my apron, I'm not being the perfect woman."

"That's not what I meant, Annabeth."

"Oh," I said, grabbing my jacket from Percy's desk chair, "Really? Because there's not that much interpretation one can gather from, 'I don't want to fight you, because I'm stronger than you are. It's just the way it is.' That's so sexist, you jerk. You never were like this before you went to that idiot Roman camp. And now you think you'll hurt me in a fight? You wish."

"Annabeth!" he called, chasing me out the door, "Look, I didn't mean it like that!"

"Oh, just shut up. After all I did too…After going after you, stressing over you for six months, spending a month helping you regain your memories, and then you pull this crap. What the Hades did you mean, Percy?" I asked, finally whipping around to face him, "Come on, Mr. Tough Guy, try to explain this."

Percy pushed his hands through his hair, nearly pulling a few strands out, "Annabeth, I know you're a better fighter than me. I just can't bear to hurt you."

"HURT ME?" I screamed, ignoring the heads poking out of various cabins, "You weren't so worried about hurting me before all this stupidity."

"I'm sorry!" he yelled, throwing his hands in the air, "I'm sorry that Hera decided to sweep me off to the freakin' Roman camp for six months. Because that's totally my fault, I forgot! Silly me! I'm stupid, my life is stupid, I should go fry myself in a volcano!"

"Oh, quit being such a baby, you weren't the one who had to worry about where you were. You didn't have to deal with the fact that I was maybe dating someone else. You didn't have to fear for my life, you didn't have to worry about me. You didn't even know my name until I arrived there, and you didn't even know my significance until a few days later! You're such a whiny child, Percy, I can't even believe you."

"You don't get it, Annabeth!"

"I'M A DAUGHTER OF ATHENA," I yelled. Cabin doors slammed shut whenever Percy or I would look over in their direction. The camp was used to some little spats, but I finally had to admit that this was something far bigger than we had ever experienced. This was a full on war with words – nothing like the little arguments we were used to. "Athena, you dumbass, I understand pretty much anything you can throw at me."

"Well," he said in a tone oozing with sarcasm, "You definitely wouldn't get this."

"Try me, you idiot," I said, taking a step towards him, daring him to throw anything at me.

"I NEARLY KILLED SOMEONE."

This was not what I had expected. "You…You what?"

"He was their best fighter at the Roman camp, he got too cocky. He started going on about how all the newcomers could never beat him. How he could beat me with his eyes closed. How I was nothing compared to him. And I…I went at him. I sliced at him so violently, I didn't know what I was doing, they didn't know my weak spot so they couldn't stop me…I hit his throat, Annabeth," said Percy with pleading eyes, "The wrong side, so I didn't touch his jugular, but…Annabeth, I could have killed him. So easily. And even after I saw that I hit him, I just watched him fall and went to walk away, still filled with this…This…I don't know, this horrible blood lust that I'd never felt even when I was fighting the minotaur after he took my mother, or during the Battle of Manhattan. Annabeth…"

He was crying. Perseus Jackson was crying. His next words were wrought with agony, with worry, with pain. "I couldn't live with myself if I became like that when we sparred…If I killed you without realizing the horror if it. I disappeared for half a year – and I saw how badly that hurt you after me not knowing who I was, who you were. And…I couldn't bear to fight you, and to see this horrible Roman and violent side of me come out where I could k –" He choked on the last word. "Annabeth…" he said softly.

To my surprise, I felt tears pooling in my eyes. Not quite sure what I was talking about, I said, "I…I don't know…"

"Please," he said, reaching for my hand. I didn't pull away this time, "Annabeth…I can't bear the thought of losing you, and it's agony to even for a mere moment think that I could be the one to do that to you. I can't…I couldn't do it. I'm scared of myself, Annabeth."

"Let's um," I said, trying to avoid the eyes of the other campers, "Let's go back into your cabin, Perce, okay?" I grabbed his hand more tightly, letting him know that I was no longer furious. Angry, yes, but it was more attached to confusion than full on rage.

Percy, still crying lightly, which was worrying me more than anything, walked along.

"Why did it just hit you now?" I asked as I sat next to him on his bed, "You were sparring with other people, and why not me? Why can't you spar with me?" I tried to ask this as gently as possible.

Percy dropped his head into his hands, his shaggy dark hair covering his fingertips. I lightly smoothed his hair, absent mindedly thinking about how much he needed a haircut.

"Because I…I can't…" he looked up at me, and for once and his life the green eyes weren't laughing. "I just…It's you Annabeth."

I put my arm around his shoulders, still a little disoriented from his tears, "Well, yeah," I joked, "So you know I can kick your butt."

"No," he said. He lifted his head out of his hands, "Annabeth…Even when my memory was gone, there was this weird thing in the back of my mind, telling me I was forgetting something really important, more important that all the other stuff. It was you. You saved me. In more than one situation, you saved me. I can't…You've always been what brings me back."

I blinked. "What do you mean?"

"In the Styx. I never told you…" his sentence trailed off, and he ran a hand through his hair again. I moved my hand from his shoulder.

"Yeah, you did," I said, "Your sixteenth birthday, you told me what happened in the river and –"

"No, Annabeth," he said, shaking his head, "No, I didn't. I almost died in that river. I felt myself dissolving, felt myself disappearing. And then…Somehow, I thought of you. And I saw you – you were on the dock, extending your hand to help me up. I reached for you – and…And…You pulled me out of the river."

"Is this a line?" I blurted out before I could stop myself, "Because, I swear it, Percy, if you're just making up all this tomfoolery to make me forgive you, I'll kick your butt to Tartarus and back."

Percy shook his head again, hard, "No, not at all, Annabeth, it's not that. I swear all of that happened." He pulled me into his arms, "I'm an idiot."

"I could have told you that ages ago," I said, giving him a small poke in the stomach.

"No," he said, "Annabeth, I've never been good at expressing my emotions."

"And I've never been a fire truck."

He looked at me blankly.  
"Oh, sorry," I said, "I thought we were playing the 'things that are obvious' game."

Percy gave me his stop-making-me-feel-stupid look. "Okay, fine," he said, "I deserved that."

"So," I said, leaning my head on his shoulder, "What were you saying before I rudely interrupted?"

"You," he took a deep breath, "Annabeth, you mean everything to me."

"And you to me."

"I…lurgoo."

"What?"

"Uhluroo."

"Seriously," I said, sitting up, "These things?" I said, poking at his lips, "These are needed if you're going to speak. You move them, and then you don't mumble and people can understand you."

"I love you."

I blinked. "You what?"

"I know it's soon to say it," said Percy, beginning to blush, "And we're just teenagers and we don't even know what it is, but…From what I think it is, I think I love you, Annabeth. I really do. And…You don't have to say it back. But I kind of think I've loved you since I woke up to you shoving ambrosia in my mouth." He paused, and studied my face. "Well, actually, okay, no. I kind of thought you were annoying until we left for that first quest, and then I started to like you when we came back from that quest, and then probably when I saw you when we were rescuing Artemis and you from Atlas, then I think I might have loved you. Sort of. But I know I love you now. I'm rambling. I need to shut up. Why can't I –"

I put my hand over his mouth. "I get it, Percy," I said, smiling at him, "I get that you love me. And…" I took a deep breath. As much as I berated Percy for it, emotions weren't my best thing either. Especially when I was fighting with myself for wanting to kiss him because I generally have positive feelings for the kid, and kick his brain out because I hated when he acted all manly and superior to me, I wasn't good at the whole feelings thing either. "I think I love you too. But what I really don't get is that you decided that you needed to basically call me weak and girly to get that point across."

"I couldn't hurt you," he said, shrugging, "I was being stupid."

"Yeah you were."

"I'll let that slide," he said, slipping me a little smile, "I was being stupid and nervous and thinking without speaking and idiotic and, well, me. And that's all it was. I'm sorry…I shouldn't have said all that. I should have just explained what happened with me and Rourke –"

"Rourke?"

"The kid I almost…Um, killed," he said with shame, "I should have explained it earlier, it would have made this…Made this easier. I wouldn't have said those stupid things."

I gave him a light kiss on the cheek. "Well," I said, settling my head on his shoulder again, "I guess you actually do have a point, if what set you off with that Rourke kid was the fact that he was running his mouth around you."

"What do you mean?"

"Because I tend to," I laughed a little, "Well, I have a tendency to bad mouth you while we're sparring."

Percy lifted my chin up and gave me a light kiss. "Yeah, well," he said, "Unlike Rourke, you've earned it, putting up with me all these years."

I nodded and kissed him back, "Yeah I've earned it," I mumbled against his lips.

"Percy?" came a voice from the door, "Annabeth? Are you two okay in there?"

"Um," said Percy, "Yeah, we –"

"We need to talk things out a little more, Chiron," I said to our camp leader, "Just a little longer to…To sort things out," I tried to make my voice sound like I was crying or at least a little sad.

"Okay," said Chiron, "Take your time, kids."

When we heard his hooves clip-clop away, Percy looked at me, incredulous. "What the heck was that, Annabeth?"

I shrugged my shoulders and gave him a little grin, "If they think we're arguing and trying to strangle each other," I said, kissing him on the jaw, "Then they won't interrupt us."

"Gods," he said, threading his fingers through my hair, "You really are a genius."

"Yeah," I said, laughing into the kiss, "I get that a lot."


	27. Reunion: Part 1

_A/N: Cherry yogurt and the Glee version of Dream On are responsible for this chapter._

_Thank you for all your reviews, and I hope you enjoy!_

"Are you okay?" said Rachel, laying a hand on my shoulder, "I…I know this must be a little hard."

I shrugged her arm off my shoulder, and defiantly said, "Nah. I'm fine. It's nothing. It's just Percy." Stupid Percy, stupidly stupid-ing like the stupidhead he was. To this, Rachel gave me one of her I-always-know-what-you're-thinking looks. "What…"

"It's just," said Rachel, beginning to pace in a small circle around the boat, "Annabeth, you're not reacting like a normal person would to this."

I shrugged. "He doesn't remember me, his loss. I don't care."

"But you should!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "Annabeth, think of how you were back before you and Percy were official. You hated me for even breathing the same air as Percy."

"Well, you know, I –"

"No, I know, it's over, but I'm trying to make a point. I just mean that…" Rachel took a deep breath, "You freaked out when you were worried Percy might like another girl. Now, when he might not remember you, any of us, even who he is, you're not even acting like you care. I'm concerned that you're bottling it up now."

"If I wanted to talk," I said, staring at the horizon, "I would have been talking about it already."

From the corner of my eye, I could see Rachel open and close her mouth. "Okay," said, resigned, "Just…Just, let me know if you need anything."

I nodded silently, and continued to stare at the horizon. In all truth, I was terrified. I knew Percy wouldn't remember me, and I knew this could mean that he found someone else.

I didn't want to talk to anyone about it because I didn't want to have to face the fact that I might not be his Wise Girl anymore.

I continued to stand where I was, and Piper, chipper as always, came to stand beside me. "Hi!"

I didn't answer.

"Look," she said, "I don't know what you're going through, but I do understand what it feels like to think you've lost someone you love."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Well," said Piper, beginning the charm speak, "Then maybe you just want to have some girl talk? We can chat about…Okay, scratch that. The boat. Let's talk about the boat."

I shrugged. "I think I'd rather just…Stand here."

"You're being so boring!" she said, throwing her hands in the air, "Gods, I think I'd like it better if you were complaining or whining or crying. This whole monotone, no reaction stuff is freaking me out, dude. I'm not really that okay with that." She leaned against the railing. "Hello. Earth to Annabeth. You haven't even spoken to anyone for the past couple of days. I'm not even kidding, everyone is freaked out."

"I just want to get Percy back," I said, "Then I'll have to do less strategizing and more thinking."

* * *

"There!" shouted Jason. We had finally made it to the Roman camp.

My heart did a combination drop and flip, and it hit me how horrible things could go in the next hour or even less. Piper laid a hand on my shoulder.

"I know you don't want it," she said quietly in my ear, "But I'm here if you need help."

"Thanks, Pipes," I choked out.

We walked towards the group of teenagers in front of us slowly. It was Jason, Piper, Leo, Rachel and I, and Chiron was accompanying us as well so we wouldn't end up killing each other.

"Hello," said a deep voice, "Please tell me what you are doing here?" A man stepped out of from under the tree holding a sword in his hand. "We do not welcome unexpected visitors."

"I am Chiron," said our teacher, slowly walking in front of us, "We're not coming for conflict, we just –"

"JASON!" screamed the man, "Jason, oh, Jupiter, we've been so worried!" Jason was immediately tackled by one of the most amusing man hug I've ever seen.

"Um," said Jason, "Hi?"

"It's me, man!" shouted the guy, "Carl! We were best friends, you know, until you disappeared. Then I got really mad at you because I thought you went on a quest. But then Percy –"

At the sound of his name, I pushed through to the front of the group, "Where is he?" I asked, "Where's Percy?"

Taken aback, Carl let go of Jason abruptly, and Jason promptly fell over. "You know Percy?"

I nodded. "I'm his –" Before I finished my sentence, I became acutely aware that every single Greek eye was on me, "G – Well, for now, let's just say I'm his best friend and his smarter half."

Carl laughed, "Smarter than Percy? Only a kid of Minerva."

"Wait," said Rachel, coming up next to me, "Percy. Percy Jackson. Known as smart."

"Apparently without Annabeth to distract him, he's got a brain," said Chiron with a little smile.

"Oh, shut up, all of you," I said, rolling my eyes, "I am a daughter of Athena."

Carl's eye lit up again, "Hey, sister."

"Of course…" I said, rolling my eyes.

"Come on," he said, starting towards the group of people a little in front of us and throwing his arm around Jason, "Let's go see your Roman brethren, Jase." All the rest of us stood there awkwardly, waiting for him to invite us in. "What are you guys waiting for?"

All at once, we started walking towards them, which led to a few of us bumping into each other. Great, I thought, now we look like clumsy buffoons.

But all worries disappeared when I saw him – Percy, leaning against a tree trunk at the end of the line, with him "I know everything" smirk plastered across his hardened face. My head started spinning, and this time I was grateful for Rachel's reassuring hand on my shoulder. "It'll be okay, Annabeth," she said to me quietly, "You can do this."

I remembered my job, what I was supposed to do when we first saw Percy, to prove to him that we knew him.

That I knew him.

And, for once in my life, I wasn't completely sure that I would be able to beat him.

"Hey," I shouted, my voice unsteady, "P-Percy Jackson?"

He stepped forward, giving me the most harsh look I'd ever seen. "Who's asking?" His voice was deeper, more manly than I remembered, and I didn't like it very much. It didn't sound like him.

"Annabeth," I choked out, praying to see recognition in his eyes, "Annabeth Chase."

"Do I know you?"

The words shot through me, and if Rachel wasn't right behind me with her hand on my arm, I would have burst into tears or a fit of rage. If it wasn't for her, I would have assumed that all Percy and I had was a lie, a fabrication, all a story I made up to tell myself at night.

But Rachel proved it was true. Because if it wasn't for Rachel, Percy and I wouldn't have been together.

Rachel made it real.

"Yes," I said, "Very well, actually."

He looked me up and down, startling me, "I hope very well," he said with a smirk and a wink.

My mouth dropped open. "Excuse me, Perseus Jackson?" I asked, all worry and sadness disappearing like they'd never been there. "What was that?"

"You're hot."

I heard a couple chuckles from behind me, and I would have bet money on them belonging to Leo and Piper.

"Well, Jackson," I said, spitting his name, "You better not speak about me in those terms – my mother will kick your butt. So, Jackson, you ready to see if I'm more than just a pretty face? That I actually know something about you?"

He smiled, "Maybe later, Bethy, we'll go have dinner first."

"Call me Bethy again," I said, staring him down, "And die."

"Aw, you're cute," he said, "I'm invincible."

"Not where I'm concerned…" I mumbled.

* * *

Later that night, after the Roman camp grudgingly gave us dinner, Percy came over to me again. As much as I hated myself for it, I felt something inside me do a double backflip when he smiled. I kept trying to tell myself that this wasn't my Percy, that he was someone completely different, but it was hard.

He still looked the same. If anything, more ripped.

Bad Annabeth, I said to myself, shaking my head. "Hey, Jackson," I said to him as he stepped next to me, "What's up?"

"I," he said, "Was just wondering – why do you think you can defeat me?"

I smiled up at him, "I know you better than anyone here, Percy. And you know me best as well."

He looked around the group of people, then offered me his hand, "Let's go for a walk, Bethy."

"Actually," I said, slapping his hand away and twisting his arm up behind him, "First you're going to apologize for calling me Bethy."

Percy looked at his arm detachedly, as if he was watching an amusing movie. "How did you do that?" he asked, easily brushing off my hand, "People never catch me off guard like that."  
I shrugged, "I'll tell you on our walk, which we will only get to if you apologize for calling me Bethy."

"Sorry, Annabeth."

"Thank you."

I waved to Chiron, and Rachel spotted the two of us. "Hey!" she said, coming up to walk on my left side, "Percy! Do you remember me?"  
"Not at all," he said, giving Rachel a funny look, "Wish I did, though."

Rachel and I exchanged incredulous looks. "Gods," I said, trying not to laugh too ridiculously, "Apparently without his memory, he thinks he's got game."

"Yeah," said Rachel, linking her arm with mine, "Too bad he wasn't this good with girls back when he was trying to get with us, right?"

I smiled. "Percy, you have no idea what we're talking about, do you?" His only response was to shake his head. "Fine then," I said, halting in my steps, "Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow what?"

"Tomorrow I'm going to show you – and all of this Roman camp – exactly how well I know you."

"Annabeth," whispered Rachel in my ear, "Maybe it's not too good of an idea to do this in front of everyone…You're the only one who knows his spot."

"Right," I said, "Wow, sorry, that could have been bad."

Percy looked between the two of us, "Seriously," he said, more confused than ever, an expression I found comforting, "What is going on?"

Rachel and I ignored him. "So," she said, putting her hands on her hips and blowing a strand of red hair out of her eyes, "Why don't you show him right now? I'll watch you two, and call for help if things get too intense."

I looked up at Percy with a grin on my face, "What do you say, son of Neptune?" I asked, "Want to put a bet on who would win between us two?"

Percy pulled out Riptide, a weapon I had competed against so many times. "Fine then," he said, "But I can't promise I won't hurt you. I'll stop before I kill you, but I might end up hurting you."

I shrugged. "Good enough. And maybe after I whoop your butt you'll remember exactly who I am." I pulled my knife out, and he stared at it. "Yeah," I said, looking down at it lovingly, "You always got uncomfortable when you realized you could be defeated by a person wielding a knife."

We began our battle stance, and I remembered that he must have learned some new techniques in the past six months – his entire fighting style may have changed since he'd been there.

One thing kept me comforted: his style may have changed, but my way to beat him never would.

I spun my knife in my hand, and was able to predict his exact moves – his confidence had improved, but his distinctive style hadn't changed at all. This would be even easier than I expected. I knew his style, but he didn't know mine.

Seconds in, and I managed to get behind him, and I lightly brushed the spot at the small of his back with my finger. Percy fell to his knees and stared up at me in horror.

"Who are you?" he asked in horror. I fought the urge to respond with, "Your worst nightmare," because, in reality, I was both that and his favorite dream. Tooting my own horn again. "How do…How do you know where…I never would have told anyone…Except…"

"I'm more to you than you realize," I said, staring down at him. In that moment, I saw something in his eyes. "But I won't tell you exactly what – I want you to remember on your own."

The next words stunned me into silence. "Wise Girl…"


	28. Reunion: Part 2

_A/N: Part 2 of the reunion scene!_

_Holy keyboard mash. I got 23 reviews on the last chapter. *passes out* Thank you!_

_Note: THIS SPECIFIC CHAPTER IS RATED T FOR TEEN. AS IN NOT K+. AS IN THIS CHAPTER IS A LITTLE MORE THAN THE RATING SAYS FOR THE STORY. It's not gratuitous and there is no lemon or smut, it's just a little more romantically intense than any of the other chapters. I just wanted to warn people that this is not as rated G as most of my other chapters have been._

_I blame the jelly beans._

_Sorry this is a disgustingly long author's note. Thank you for your reviews, and enjoy!_

"HE REMEMBERS THE NICKNAME," I said to Piper, pacing back and forth outside the measly little tent that the Romans decided to loan us for the night. Rachel was already asleep, but Piper offered to take a walk outside with me as I spazzed out for the fifty millionth time that day, "He remembers the NICKNAME, but not why he gave me it, or what it's come to mean these last few months! It's like we're back when we were twelve on that first stupid quest to get that stupid lightning bolt. GODS!" I shouted, kicking at a tree, "Stupid Seaweed Brain…"

"Well," said Piper, optimistic as always, "At least he remembers that. He remembers you two used to be best friends. It's probably because you guys weren't together until after he told you about the Achilles spot.

"We definitely had feelings for each other before then, though," I said, leaning against the tree I had just brutalized, "Maybe he just doesn't have any idea what that feeling means."

"You two went back and forth between wanting to hug each other and wanting to slice each other's heads off," said Rachel, poking her frizzy red head out of the cabin, "Oh, and thanks for waking me up."

"Sorry," I said, not actually sorry.

"Anyway, he probably feels that and doesn't understand yet that it means he actually likes you."

I threw my hands in the air, "So now we really ARE back to when we were twelve…"

"What did he do when he said your nickname again?" Piper asked.

"He stood up, stared at me funny, asked me if I knew anything about the Great Prophecy, and when I told him it had already come to pass and that he was the one who saved the world, ran away like a little girl."

"Just like Percy…" said Rachel, rolling her eyes.

I nodded. "So now I think he knows me as the annoying know it all he met when we were twelve instead of his girlfriend or even as a friend."

"I'm sure he thinks of you as a friend, Annabeth," said Piper, thinking better of trying to give me a hug, "I just think he's…Confused. Do you have any idea of something that would work to jog his memory?"

"Yeah," said Rachel, "How about calling him Seaweed Brain?"

I shook my head. "I don't think so. He saw me and thought Wise Girl and didn't remember anything except the little annoying girl."

"Any other ideas?"

Something popped into my head, something he said the night he disappeared, something he said he'd never forget, but it would be my last resort, what I would do if there was no other choice. "Not really," I said, shrugging, "I guess we'll just have to…I don't know, wait a while. Then we'll figure out what would work."

"You could try kissing him," said Rachel, "But that more often makes his head stop working as opposed to start working again."

"Or tell him stories about what you two did together," said Piper.

"No," I said, "He could just hear those memories and think they are his – kind of like when you watch home videos of when you're younger and you think you remember it but you're just remembering the movie. I want him to be able to tell me details about the forges, the lake, the kisses, everything. I don't want to have to worry that he might be just thinking he remembers when he's just thinking about what I told him."

Rachel yawned. "Well," she said, rubbing her eyes, "Maybe you should get some sleep. It would be easier for you to come up with a solution if you get enough –" A yawn that large should not be able to come out of such a small girl.

"Yeah, Annabeth," said Piper, gesturing towards the tent, "Have a nap. Then tomorrow we can figure it out."

* * *

Waking up the next morning annoyed me, just because I knew that the entire day would consist of trying to get Percy to remember me.

Waking up the next morning made me angry, because I knew I'd had behind me two days b consisting of failure and three more venting sessions with Piper and Rachel.

The third morning in that stupid tent I woke up and Rachel and Piper didn't even follow me this time. I stood up, put on my Yankees cap, and walked over to Percy's Neptune cabin. Even thinking the name felt like nails on a chalkboard – Percy's father was Poseidon, not Neptune. Neptune, to me, was a planet, a puny, watery, drippy planet. Poseidon was the noble and brave sea god. That was Percy's father.

I thought about the weird fact that a planet was named after the goddess of love and not the goddess of wisdom as I walked up to the door and opened it, making enough noise to wake a normal sleeper.

Percy, even without a memory, was not a normal sleeper. At least some things never changed.

I walked up to him and whispered in his ear, "Wake up, Seaweed Brain."

He said up abruptly and yelled, "WHO'S THERE?"

"Me, you idiot."

He drew his sword, and I managed to whip my hat off before he skewered me. "Whoa, hey now, Mr. Big Man, don't kill me here. I'm not here to hurt you, I'm here to get your memory back."

He capped his sword and swung his legs out of bed. Clad only in boxers, it was all I could do to look away.

"Look," he said, rubbing his eyes, "I don't get why this is so important to you, Annabeth. Me getting my memory back."

I folded my arms, and debated whether or not to mention the fact that I actually somehow missed arguing with him.

Nah.

"It's just important," I said. I still hadn't told him that we'd dated. I still hadn't mentioned all that we'd been through together.

I wanted him to figure it out on his own. For once, Percy would have to think.

It could be amusing.

"Fine, then," he said, standing up and stretching. He'd been working out here more than at Camp Half Blood and damn did it look good on him.

Again, I had to remind myself not to stare. It wasn't easy.

"How's this," he said, "I have to train all day – I don't want to get rusty – but we'll talk again at dinner, okay?"

"Sure," I said.

"By the way," he said, throwing on a pair of jeans, "How did you beat me so fast?"

I shrugged. "You didn't expect my fighting style but I know yours."

"And I didn't think you'd be that good, so I went easy on you…" he mumbled, "Sorry, it was stupid and cocky of me. And now I regret it," he said, smiling sheepishly, "Considering I got my butt kicked."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Just meet me later – we're figuring this out."

"Dinner, right?"

I nodded and put my cap back on, walking over to the door. "That'll work," I said, slipping out the door, "See you then."

* * *

"Really?" said Piper, "He agreed to talk at dinner, that's something."

"Yeah," I said, playing with the cap, "But it still means that he has no idea what I mean to him."

Rachel leaned her head on my shoulder and wrapped an arm around mine, "You're the best thing to ever happen to that idiot," she said, "He'll remember you if he knows what's good for him."

The three of us were being lazy, just hanging out by our tent until dinner.

"Hey, Pipes," said Leo, walking over to us. "Rach, Annabeth."

"Hey, Leo," we all said mournfully. Leo rolled his eyes.

"You guys are so whiny. Come to dinner early, we're all talking."  
"How did you get along with all of the Roman people so easily?" asked Rachel, getting to her feet and brushing off her jeans, "The three of us have been pretty much exiled to a freakin' tent."

Leo shrugged and offered his hand to Piper, who ignored it and got up on her own. "Come on," she said, linking her arm with mine and Leo's, "Off to dinner, shall we?"

I shook off her arm. "Not in the mood to be all happy clappy arm link-y."  
"Kill joy."

The four of us sat down to eat, and, as per usual, got weird looks from all the Romans and then were completely ignored. Chiron, Jason and Percy were the only ones to move from their table to ours. "So," said Chiron to the four of us, "How have my Greeks been doing lately."

"Good."

"I hate the lack of respect Aphrodite gets here…"

"I hate the looks I get for being mortal here."  
"I just hate being here."

Chiron sighed. "Well," he said, taking a quick glance over to Percy whose sloppy eating habits were the same as always, "Hopefully we'll be able to get everything done soon, or at least get things sorted out with you two."

I blushed. "Um, Percy still hasn't figured anything out yet," I said to Chiron, "I want him to figure it out on his own."

"Wow," said Chiron, "I'm glad, Annabeth, usually you do all the work."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, you can say that again…"

Percy lifted his head up. "Okay, seriously, what the hell is with you, Annabeth? I need things to be fixed, too, but why do you care?"

"Later, Seaweed Brain," I said, rolling my eyes.

"What kind of nickname is that?"

"A good one, now eat your dinner."

Rachel smiled. "Aw, it's like old times."

Dinner continued normally, and we all moved around the fire so Lupa could tell the camp the plans for the next day.

Before Percy could sit down, however, I stood up and took his hand. "Okay," I said, "Percy? Come with me."

"What?" he asked, giving me one of his characteristic I-am-a-confused-young-lad looks, which I took as a good thing.

I grabbed a fist full of his shirt. "I'm going to jog your memory, Seaweed Brain," I said in a low voice, "If it takes all night."

The two of us went to his cabin, empty of course, with me slightly dragging him there. The Romans didn't have many rules it seemed – we passed a few campers doing pretty much the exact same as Percy and I were. If all went well, no one would even notice this. It was a good thing that Rachel had agreed to distract Lupa and Chiron for me – they would have been the only ones to try and stop us.

I pushed Percy into the door, and I kicked it shut. "Okay, Percy," I said, "Remember me yet?"

He shook his head. "What are you to me, Annabeth?" he asked, "I know…There's something…I just…It's not quite…Not quite there. I...There's a reason you want me to remember. A big reason."

I nodded. "Yes." I took a step towards him, and angled my head up to him, close enough that we would be able to kiss if he remembered. "Remember now?" I breathed.

"We…We were together. Very together. And it was…Important."

I nodded. "Yes…Are you remembering that or just inferring that from what's happening right now?"

"Half and half."

I took a step back and folded my arms across my chest. "Okay then. How to jog your memory."

He held out his hand. "Can…Can I try something?"

I nodded. "What were you thinking?"

He took a step towards me, ending up right in front of me, and gave me a really light, really nervous kiss on the lips. I could tell it wasn't him remembering – it was his way of trying to remember. I sighed. "Still nothing?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I wish…" he started walking around the cabin, and I could barely make out his figure in the darkness. "I wish there was something that…Something I could remember. Something specific that could bring back the memories."

He looked at me, and I could see he was genuinely trying to remember exactly who I was with him, exactly what I meant to him. "Is there anything you said to me that could, I don't know, trigger it?"

I blushed. "There's…There's something that, um…" I couldn't force myself to say it. "You said you'd never forget it."

His eyes lit up. "Then that could be the trigger! What is it?"

I dropped my head into my hand, blushing brightly and smiling, embarrassed. "Oh, gods, Percy, it's, um…"

"What?"

"If this trigger doesn't work, I'm going to be incredibly embarrassed."

He shrugged. "Whatever it is, I won't make fun of you for it. If you really think it'll work, try it."

"It might freak you out…And…It actually might freak me out."

"You don't have to if you don't want to," said Percy, a blush beginning to spread across his cheeks."

"No," I said, "You know what? This could work. And if it doesn't, whatever." I took a deep breath. If this worked, it would be worth it, I thought to myself. If it didn't, well, I would be deeply humiliated, and my life would pretty much be over. "Here goes nothing…" I said.

I lifted up my shirt, trying not to feel nervous or embarrassed. It's just Percy, I thought to myself, we've already done this. Percy's eyebrows shot up into his hair, and he blinked a few times, looking like he just learned the meaning of life. "Oh, gods…" He mumbled, staring open mouthed at my chest.

I'd hoped I'd get a more memory based reaction than that. "Oh, Hades," I said, blushing even worse than before and shoving my shirt down, "Gods, I really thought it would –"

Before I finished my sentence, though, Percy was in front of me again, and said, "Annabeth…"

I looked up at him, not daring to believe the look on his face.

He stroked along the side of my rib cage, the one spot on my body that always made me weak in the knees.

Only he knew that.

Only Percy knew –

"It's come back," he said, wrapping one hand around my waist and cupping my face in the other, "Wise Girl, I remember you. I remember the first time we kissed in the forges. I remember dancing with you at my mother's wedding. I remember the day we got together, my sixteenth birthday. I remember that first underwater kiss we had when you couldn't figure out how to float correctly and you ended up kicking fish. I remember the hilarious look on your face when I told you that Rachel and I kissed and how crazy I acted when I thought you were going to kill her. I remember that day I went out to dinner with you and your family and I almost got caught leaving after hours. I remember that last night we had together, the first time you let me take off your –"

"Okay," I said, putting my hand over his mouth, "We both know what happened."

Percy's lips broke into the biggest smile I'd ever seen, and he kissed me hard on the mouth., and for the first time in six months I felt the fire between us. "Yes," he said, kissing me and hugging me like there was no tomorrow, "Now we both know."

_A/N2: Hehe. So everyone's done the whole "the spot triggers the memory!" plotline, or the whole "the nickname triggers the memory!" plotline. Being me and being quite the weirdo, I decided to try an idea involving something that NO teenage boy ever forgets. Merci for reading!_


	29. Always Right

_A/N: This is from page 226 of Battle of the Labyrinth, if you wish to follow along._

_Thank you a million for reviewing! 229 reviews is making me feel as if I am about to fall over with joy._

_Read, review, enjoy!_

Two weeks had passed since our kiss, and nothing.

I guess I had been right when I had that fleeting thought it would be the last moment I'd see him. To be honest, though, I didn't actually think he'd die. I thought I was being melodramatic, stupid, not thinking of what Percy could do to get out of it all.

I was wrong.

"Annabeth," said Chiron, tapping me on the shoulder, "I'm…I'm so sorry, but I don't think he is going to –"

I pushed his hand off of my shoulder. "He'll come," I said, staring into the sea, "He'll come back."

"I'm sure if he could he would, Annabeth," said Chiron, staring at the sea next to me, "But I'm not sure if he can."

"Just wait, I'll be right. He's alive. I can tell. Just like with Luke. Percy's alive. I know it."

"Annabeth, you might want to consider that –"

"I'm always right," I said, "You know that. We need to just wait, he'll get here soon enough."

"Annabeth, we made his shroud."

At those words, I turned around abruptly. "You made his WHAT?"

"Shroud. We made his shroud."

"But shrouds are for dead people." My heart sank as Chiron nodded, trying to get me to understand without telling me. "Oh." Tears began to prickle in the corners of my eyes. "Oh…"

Chiron put a hand on my shoulder again, and this time I let him. "Chiron…He's gone."

"It's the only possible answer, Annabeth," he said in a soft voice. I stood up and leaned against him, and he gave me the hug that I really needed.

When I remembered the reason, the tears poured out. "I know, Annabeth. We'll…We can fix the shroud if you want to make it look more like Percy, dear. Just let me know."

I pulled away from the hug, for once not ashamed by the tears on my face, "Yeah," I said in a small voice, "I'll…I'll do something to it."

Chiron led me to where they were making the shroud, and everyone parted as I walked up to it. Silena put an arm around my shoulders, "Annabeth, if you need anything, I'm here."

All I could do was nod, "Thanks, Silena," I murmured.

Everyone left except for her and Chiron, leaving the three of us alone with the shroud. It was simple – sea green, a trident emblazoned on it – and on first look there was only one thing that I thought it really needed.

"Um," I said through a few sniffles, "Can I have a minute?"

Silena nodded and gave me a hug. "I know we're not best friends or anything," she said gently, "But I promise, if you need anything, just let me know. I'm here for you."

Immediately I began to appreciate Silena more. My whole life I'd never put much thought into the people of the Aphrodite cabin, writing them off as love struck, lame teenagers who put more focus in their makeup than their friendships, but this instance made me realize that a lot of them were actually nice people, Silena especially. "Thanks, Silena."

They left, and I stood there alone with the shroud. Making sure no one was around me, that no one could see me, I did something more maudlin than I'd ever thought possible. On the left bottom corner of it, I kissed it lightly. "There," I said to no one in particular, "Now that kiss can leave with the shroud, and it will be our little secret." I felt like something was being ripped from me as I left the shroud and the memory of Percy behind me.

He was gone.

I'd lost another.

* * *

"It has been two weeks," began Chiron stoically, looking none of us in the eye, "Since Annabeth's return and Percy's disappearance, despite vigilant ears listening for news, many helpful eyes searching for the son of the sea god, we have found no sign of him. It is best, now, to say goodbye to this brave young man and this great friend, to lay his memory to rest. We must assume he is dead. After so long a silence, it is unlikely that our prayers will be answered. I have asked his best surviving friend to do the honors."

The whole day I hadn't cared who saw me cry – and that hadn't changed as I lifted the shroud. I lit the shroud and turned towards the audience, sobbing outright. "He was probably the bravest friend I ever had. He…"

PERSEUS JACKSON I AM GOING TO RIP YOUR HEAD OFF.

He was standing there, like an absolute IDIOT, just WATCHING! Who on EARTH just WATCHES as someone burns their SHROUD? I felt the color return to my face and then some – I was angry. Stupid Perseus Jackson ruining even his own FUNERAL. "He's right there!" I shouted, pointing up at the annoying son of a sea god who had caused me all this anguish.

"Percy!" called Beckendorf with a grin. Everyone went to go greet him, but it was as if my feet were rooted to the spot.

I had no choice. I would simply have to throw him in the fire along with his shroud. I was going to have to hit him with a shoe or something. I would have to smash him with a hammer. Something.

I walked over, just in time to hear Chiron begin, "Well, I don't believe I've ever been happier to see a camper return. But you must –"

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" I asked, pushing through the people until I was standing right in front of him. The nervous half smile on his face made my anger disappear and, instead of giving him a fist in the face like I planned, I pulled him to me in one of the most awkward hugs I had ever experienced. Probably because I was still a little angry and wanted him to feel at least uncomfortable from this whole situation, if not embarrassed. Almost immediately, I looked around.

Everyone was giving me one of those looks. You know, the "wow she's a psycho" looks that people like me get far too often. I shoved Percy away, and settled for saying, "I – we thought you were dead, Seaweed Brain!"

"I'm sorry," said Percy with a sheepish grin, "I got lost."

It was almost frightening how quickly the anger came back. Various swears and curses floated in front of my mind, but I settled for saying, "LOST?" Okay, not saying, shouting, "Two weeks, Percy? Where in the world –"

"Annabeth, perhaps we should discuss this somewhere more private, shall we? The rest of you, back to your normal activities."

I would have yelled at him for interrupting me, but he startled me by hauling me up and setting me on his back next to Percy, who I still simultaneously wanted to kick and hug.

We went back to the Big House, and the whole time I sat on Chiron's back with my arms folded.

"Annabeth –"

"Shut up."

"But I –"

"You're an idiot."

"Just listen –"

"Go jump in a lake."

The conversation continued like this until the two of us were sitting at a table and Chiron was glaring at us, waiting for our little argument to stop.

"Are you, done, Annabeth?" Chiron asked dryly.

"Yes," I said. I turned to Percy, "So!" I said in a falsely cheery voice, "Are you ready to tell us exactly where you were the past two weeks? I'm so excited!"

"I blew up Mount St. Helens."

"Really, I hadn't noticed…"

"Annabeth…" warned Chiron.

"Oh, Chiron," I said with a grin, "I was right."

"What do you mean?"

"I knew he was alive," I said, smiling, "You know why? Because I'm always right."

"And always annoying," muttered Percy. In response I punched him in the arm.

"Annabeth..." Chiron warned again.

"Sorry," I said, leaning my head in my hands, "Continue, kelp head."


	30. Not A Date

_A/N: Okay, so there's some serious editorializing in here. I decided to give Annabeth my views on Romeo and Juliet, just because she, being Annabeth, would find it completely absurd that someone would give up everything for love._

_Chapter 30! Holy cow I've been writing a lot…_

_Also, the high level of ridiculous is not my fault. It's the blueberry pie yogurt's fault. BLAME THE YOGURT._

_Oh, and my Microsoft Word recognizes bromance as a word. My life is complete._

_Thank you so much for all of your reviews and everything! You readers are incredible._

"Stupid Juliet," I muttered to the computer screen, "Stupid Romeo. Stupid archaic die-for-the-one-you-love plotline. Stupid archetype." I glanced at the small book beside me, studying the play and resenting Shakespeare for writing it. "Othello!" I muttered, hating Juliet more with every word, "Why couldn't we have done Othello?"

Out of nowhere, the skype ringtone noise began to sound on my computer. "Seaweed Brain is calling," it read, and I smiled.

"Hi, Seaweed Brain," I said as I clicked the window.

"Oh, come on!" he said, his face appearing the screen looking already annoyed."Can't you ever call me Percy?"

"I put your name in on skype as Seaweed Brain. You are entirely Seaweed Brain to me now, you can't get away from it." I tried a little villain laugh, but apparently Percy didn't find it funny at all.

"How?" he asked, "I can't figure out how to change things. Rachel's still Jane Doe in here – it confuses me whenever she skypes me."

"Why is Rachel using a pseudonym?" I asked. What I really wanted to ask was why Rachel Elizabeth Dare was skyping Percy so much, and why her pseudonym wasn't something closer to "Annoying Mortal Who Can't Leave Well Enough Alone."

"Her dad's famous," said Percy with a shrug, "He didn't want her using his real name on skype – then anyone could find her and add her."

I rolled my eyes, momentarily forgetting that he could see me. "Fine. Do you want to know how to change the names?"

Percy nodded. "Yes please."

"Tell me I'm a complete genius and that no one is smarter than I am and that I am better than you in every respect of the word."

His jaw dropped. "I'm not saying that!" he exclaimed, "You cannot extort compliments out of me whenever I ask you to do a favor, it's not fair!"  
"Extort?" I asked, returning to my essay and laughing, "Twenty five cent word there, Seaweed Brain, I'm impressed."

"I hate you."

"Nah," I said, smiling, "You don't. So what's up? Why'd you skype me?"

He shrugged, "Well, you're coming to my mom's wedding in April, right?"

"Yup," I said, continuing to type up my English essay on Romeo and Juliet. It irked me how annoying the play was, and it irked me even more that we couldn't have chosen our own Shakespeare play to write about. Percy's impromptu skype call seriously threw off my groove – I had been on a roll writing about how Juliet's decision to kill herself was obviously the result of a personality defect, and he called me right in the middle of my rant.

"Well," he said, "Um, I had an idea."

"Wow," I said absentmindedly, "Did it hurt?" There was silence for a few seconds, and I minimized my essay and opened up skype. Percy was sitting there with a glare. "Percy? I think you froze."

"No," he said, continuing to glare, "You just annoyed me."

"Well," I said, opening the word document again, "You always annoy me. We're even now."  
"Would you stop typing? It's really loud."

"My computer has a loud keyboard, it's not my fault."

"Well why do you have to be typing?" he asked.

"Because your lovely skype invite interrupted my essay writing. That is why."

"You couldn't wait to write it until, I don't know, perhaps when we aren't skyping?"

I shrugged and continued typing, "Actually, I was thinking that this was a lovely use of my time. Talking to you doesn't require too much of my attention or brain function."

"Why are you so mean to me?"

I smiled into the webcam, "Because I'm awesome. And when I'm this kind of mean to someone, it's a sign of love."

Immediately Percy blushed, and a second later, when I realized what I said, I blushed as well. "I mean, friend love. Like, uh, me and Silena. Or you and Grover. You know," I said, stumbling over my words, "Like a bromance. Or a…A sibmance."

"A what?" asked Percy, looking completely confused. I couldn't say I had any idea what I was talking about either.

"Like, a bromance is between two guys. But I'm a girl, and you're a guy, so it can't be a bromance, so we can't be brothers, or sisters and instead we'd be siblings, and so a sibmance and um…Yeah."

"Um."

I started typing away again, but this time into Google just random letters. I could barely think straight let alone work on an essay – I just wanted Percy to think that I was still focused and not internally punching myself for that absolutely absurd ramble.

Now that Percy thought that I thought of him as a brother, he'd never ask me out let alone think about it. He'd probably think it was completely out of the question now that we could ever date, let alone that I would like him, even if he did like me. He'd never ask me out now.

"Do you want to go to the movies when you come up?" I blinked.

Well then. Apparently I was wrong.

"Like…When?"

"After my mom's wedding," he said, smiling, "You know, to make up for that not-movie event that I kind of ruined by blowing up an empousa last year before the Battle of the Labyrinth."

"Right," I said, my heart doing a strange fluttering thing.

"But it isn't a date," blurted Percy. I fought the impulse to glare at the stupid computer screen.

"Of course not," I said with a laugh, "Why on earth would it be a date?" I don't know, brain, perhaps because you really like him and kissed him less than a year ago. WHY DO I ALWAYS GET IN MY OWN WAY?

"Yeah," said Percy, shaking his head, "No date. We're just going to see a movie."

"What do you think will be out?"  
I shrugged. "I don't know, let me check the movie schedule for three weeks from now," I mimed looking through a book, "Oh, let's go see the movie Percy's An Idiot."

"Why am I an idiot?"

"This time?"

"Oh, shut up."

"I just mean that I have no idea what movies will be out by then," I said, laughing. "But we can't see a romantic comedy."

"Why not?" Percy asked.

"I hate them. Let's go see some sort of action movie."

"I was thinking something Disney."

"Really?" I asked, truly confused, "I would have never pegged you as a Disney kind of guy."  
Percy shrugged. "What can I say, Shang's my homeboy."

"Is Mulan your favorite too?" I asked, finally happy that we might possibly have something in common other than the whole my-parent-is-a-god thing.

Percy nodded. "Mulan's badass."

"Much more badass than stupid Juliet…" I said, picking up the play and showing it to Percy. "She's so pathetic, and all because, poor her, she can't be with the boy she really likes because their parents don't like each other."

Out of nowhere, I felt like someone punched me in the stomach: a girl who's annoyed because her parents and the parents the guy she loves don't get along.

Well, I thought, continuing the Disney conversation, I'd never let something a stupid as parents get in the way, and I'd never let something as stupid as a boy make me unhappy.

Percy would just have to stop being dense somewhere along the line.


	31. The Final Battle

_A/N: I enjoyed writing this chapter, mainly because I ended up re-reading the end of TLO. Oh, fanfic, how I love thee…Thank you to__ percyandanabeth for the idea for this chapter!_

_A final note: this is my last of my near-daily updates. I'm really sorry, and I'd love to be able to keep giving you a chapter a day, but I have to go back to school and that will keep me very busy. I promise I will give a chapter a week, and if I don't you have my permission to PM me, annoying me to update. I'll do my best to update as often as possible, but as of right now all I can guarantee is once a week._

_So I shall give you this epic one that is really long to try and console everyone – I hope you like reading this as much as I loved writing it! It begins at the beginning of the end of TLO._

_Thank you SO MUCH everyone. Read, review, enjoy, and I'll update again soon!_

"Come on, Seaweed Brain!" I shouted to Percy as we raced into the Empire State building. Thalia and Grover were ahead of the two of us, and Percy was gaining on me – the pain in the shoulder was almost killing me, and I didn't want to admit it, but I wasn't sure if I would be able to make it for much longer.

I shook off the pain. It wasn't important right now.

We took off towards the elevator, and it seemed like years climbing the 600 stories. It was silent – we could all tell we wanted to say something helpful, but none of us had any clue what to say. The tension and stress was thickening the air, and I couldn't think of anything but what might happen if we failed.

Everything felt hopeless the second I saw the bridge. It was slowly dissolving, and I knew I couldn't jump. I was already having trouble walking, and there was no way I'd make it.

Grover, however, was part goat, and he didn't have a major injury. "Jump!" he called, landing on the other side of the bridge. My vision swam sickeningly as I felt a wave of pain course through my body.

In short, I was screwed.

"Gods," said Thalia, sounding like the nervous twelve year old from years and years ago, "I hate heights!" She and Percy jumped at the same time, landing like cats on the other side. I wouldn't be able to make it.

"Percy!" I called, holding back a wave of pain. I felt the ground begin to crumble beneath me – I had no choice. I had to jump. But, when I went to take one desperate leap, the floor fell out beneath me and I was nearly a foot short.

I braced myself to fall when out of nowhere I felt a hand grasp mine.

I pulled Percy down by accident, my chest hitting what was left of the bridge hard, nearly knocking the wind out of me. Slowly I began slipping lower down, and I looked, panicked, up into Percy's eyes. I had to admit it to myself as I was falling – I kind of, sort of, really loved him. More than I wanted to admit. Feeling anything at all for anyone at all was hard for me to admit, and as I felt like time was standing still, dangling hundreds of feet above Manhattan, I had to accept that Percy was more to me than just a best friend.

I kept waiting for the final fall, the whoosh of air as I plummeted, but it never came. Before I knew it, I felt myself being yanked up. In a split second, I was in Percy's arms, not dangling off what felt like a cliff. I was safe. I could breathe again.

Then, I realized, that also meant that being in Percy's arms, no matter how nice, was probably not exactly appropriate for the situation. I froze momentarily, waiting for him to decide what we were going to do here.

"Um, thanks," I said quietly.

"Uh duh."

He was quite the eloquent demigod, I'd give him that. I hoped he didn't see me roll my eyes.

"Keep moving!" said Grover, pulling on Percy's shoulder. I pulled my arms away from Percy, wincing as I moved my shoulder, and stood up. I began moving faster once I realized that the bridge was crumbling as we moved, and we made it to the edge of the mountain just as the final section fell. I took a worried glance back at the elevator. We couldn't turn back. "We're marooned," I said in a morbid tone, "On our own."

Grover baa'd nervously, and said, "The connection between Olympus and America is dissolving. If it fails –"

"The gods won't move on to another country this time," said Thalia, "This will be the end of Olympus. The final end."

We were all so positive and optimistic, it was impressive.

As we took off down the streets, I had to force myself not to look at the destruction.

"Kronos' scythe," said Percy.

We ran, and it felt as if we were moving more slowly than ever. The road seemed agonizingly long, like we'd never get where we need to be.

I felt fear rip through me when I heard, from far away, "Brick by brick. That was my promise. Tear it down BRICK BY BRICK." I hadn't heard Kronos' sounding so, well, horrific before, or maybe the severity of the situation hadn't sunk in until that moment.

Whatever it was, I was nearly scared out of my pants.

I instinctively looked away as a white temple exploded. Thalia, however, continued to glare at it angrily. "That was a shrine to Artemis," she said in a vicious tone, "He'll pay for that."

As we ran, I looked up and saw a statue of Hera, and suddenly it started to fall. I was completely paralyzed as I watched it fall, and would have been knocked out by the statue if it wasn't for Thalia's hard shove.

"Thalia!" Grover shouted, worried. When we pushed through the smoke and rock, we found that she was pinned beneath the statue.

"I survive all those battles," said Thalia in her I-hate-everything tone, "And I get defeated by a stupid chunk of rock."

Immediately, I realized what the rock was: another one of Hera's attempts to take me out.

Stupid goddess needed to lay off…

"It's Hera," I said. I couldn't even say her name without wanting to punch someone's lights out. At least my anger distracted me from my shoulder, "She's had it in for me all year. Her statue would've killed me if you hadn't pushed us away."

"Well, don't just stand there," said Thalia, "I'll be fine. Go!"

Like an idiot in a horror movie, I looked from Thalia to our destination about fifteen times, until Percy had the sense to make a decision for once in his life. "We'll be back," he said forcefully.

"I'm not going anywhere," said Thalia.

"We've got to run," said Percy.

"I don't suppose you mean away…"

I fought the impulse to whomp Grover on the side of the head, and sprinted next to Percy on the way to the palace, fear growing in my heart.

* * *

"Finally!" shouted Kronos in the middle of the throne room, "The Olympian Council – so proud and mighty. Which seat of power shall I destroy first?" His haughty voice seemed to both annoy me and frighten me at the same time, neither emotions I enjoyed much.

The three of us moved towards Kronos, but that annoying kid who freakin' STABBED me earlier saw us and said, "My lord."

Would it be completely wrong of me to tackle him and then strangle him with my belt?

When Kronos turned towards us, I had to shake my head for a moment to remember that it wasn't Luke. If I wasn't reminded constantly by the pain in my shoulder what he had become, I could have given him a hug like we used to and felt like everything was okay. Unfortunately, he was now a murderous, demonic Titan who was hell bent on destroying the universe, and that kind of change kind of quelled the hugging impulse.

I didn't realize I had even made a noise until Percy glanced at me quickly with a worried glance, and I immediately straightened. I wouldn't let what Luke had become hurt me.

I had to remind myself that this wasn't my fault. I was not responsible for what Luke had done, and he was not the blonde fourteen year old who once was my hero. He was a horrid shell of a man now – nothing like the person who I once admired.

"Shall I destroy your first, Jackson?" Kronos asked, "Is that the choice you will make – to fight me and die instead of bowing down? Prophecies never end well, you know."

Percy, the idiotic hero that he was, had the gall to talk back to the titan of time. "Luke would fight with a sword, but I suppose you don't have his skill."

The scythe changed – it became Backbiter, a weapon I'd fought against once or twice, and it was like another kick in my stomach. I was spun back to the first moment I met Luke, when he gave me –

It finally hit me. Luke – the cursed blade – CURSED BLADE.

Mine. I looked down at the knife I had held since I was seven and I knew – this would fulfill the prophecy. This was my part. "Percy, the blade!" I said, pulling it out, "_The hero's soul cursed blade shall reap_!"

All I got was a blank look, which I should be used to by now.

Kronos raised his sword – I had to get Luke to push through, and soon. "Wait!" I yelled, but nothing would stop the titan.

The fight was violent, frenzied, terrifying, and – oh hell.

Nakamura came at me, but obviously he didn't know the fury of a woman who was currently watching the guy she just realized she love getting sliced at by a guy she used to think she loved. It was a good thing I had little Mr. Stabby-Rip-Stab-Stab to keep me distracted.

I lost focus of the fight between Kronos and Percy, concentrating on defeating Captain Knife Boy. He wasn't a great fighter, and he'd obviously never had to go against a knife before – something I could use to his advantage. After spending far too much of my life trying to take Percy down in various sword fights, Ethan wasn't the most difficult person I'd ever dueled.

I probably would have taken him out sooner if he hadn't STABBED ME EARLIER.

The thought sent a new wave of fury towards me. "Recognize me, you annoying little doofus?"

Ethan shook his head.

"You," I said, catching his blade on mine, "Stabbed me. You little twerp."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Kronos crumple on his knees and drop his sword. Ethan made the mistake of turning his head, and I took this moment as a sign to kick him hard in the stomach and race over to Kronos. "Luke!" I shouted, "Listen!" Luke had to do this, I had no idea why I hadn't seen this before.

The whole Kronos-will-try-and-kill-me thing I kind of wish I had seen sooner as well.

* * *

My eyes fluttered open to see Grover kneeling in front of me. "Eat this," he said softly and urgently, "Quick, it's ambrosia, eat, now."

I crammed the square into my mouth and chewed as quickly as I could. All I could do to sit up, and try to clear my head as Kronos and Percy swam in my vision.

Grover put a hand behind my back. "Here," he said, "Just…Sit up, neither of us are going to be any help in the battle right now. Just sit for a moment."

I blinked for a few times, and heard Kronos shout, "It's not too late, Percy Jackson," he said, "Behold."

He pointed to the hearth, which must have shown something incredibly impressive, because Percy was staring at it with a rapt expression I'd only seen him see while playing video games or watching movies with Emma Watson in them.

"The Olympians are giving their final effort. How pathetic." I wanted to punch Kronos for his nonchalance. These were our parents, our uncles, our friends, our relatives being killed out there against his armies, and he just stood there and laughed.

Then again, they were his children and grandchildren, so obviously he wouldn't exactly deserve a World's Best Dad mug.

"NO!" screamed Kronos, startling me to the point where I nearly fell over sideways. It was incredibly disorienting to see someone freaking out about something I couldn't see. "NO!"

"TYSON!" Percy yelled. It didn't seem worried– more jubilant, proud.

"Do you have any idea what's going on?" I whispered to Grover.

He shook his head. "I've never been so lost in my life."

"BAH!" shouted Kronos.

"They're on their way," said Percy, a renewed, triumphant smile on his face, "You've lost."

"I haven't even started."

Grover looked over at me and whispered, "That can't be good…"

"Shut up, Grover!"

Before I knew it, my support left me, and Grover was racing like I'd never seen him to Percy's side. I felt like I'd been punched when I saw Kronos/Luke hit him in the stomach and Grover slide across the floor.

It was like time was moving slowly as I watched what happened next. Kronos disarmed Percy, and I ran towards them, my mind finally clear. "STOP!" I shouted, catching Backbiter on my knife and boring my eyes into Kronos'. I stepped in closer, standing face to face with Kronos.

"Luke," I said, gritting my teeth, forcing myself to ignore the pain in my shoulder, "I understand now. You have to trust me."

"Luke Castellan is dead!" said Kronos, spitting a little into my face, "His body will burn away as I assume my true form!" He pushed against me, but I pushed right back. This wasn't just me fighting against Kronos. I was fighting for everything – my mother, my father, Thalia, Grover, and Percy, all my other friends. This was not going to end today.

And Luke would come out of this trance, and would finally complete the prophecy.

"Your mother," I grunted, keeping my strength in check, "She saw your fate."

"Service to Kronos! This is my fate!" I felt a pain in my heart when I heard him say "my." It made this real – Luke was in there. Luke would have to die. The thought sent a wave of hurt unlike that in my shoulder, and I began to feel the familiar prickle of tears in my eyes.

"No!" I said, blinking back the tears, "That's not the end, Luke. The prophecy: she saw what you would do. It applies to you!"

"I will crush you, child!"

"You won't," I said, childhood memories of Luke and I radiating through the pain of the present, "You promised. You're holding Kronos back even now."

"LIES!" This time, Kronos managed to best me, and he struck my face, sending me across the floor. This time, however, I didn't lose consciousness.

Kronos stepped towards me, and my attempts at crawling away failed. "Family, Luke," I said, spitting out blood, "You promised."

"Promise," he said, staring at his sword, then at my face, "Annabeth…" It was Luke. Luke was speaking. "You're bleeding…"

"My knife," I said, trying to raise my arm. Unfortunately, landing on the floor like that coupled with my prior injury, I couldn't hold myself up, let alone clutch the knife. It fell on the ground. I looked up at Percy, begging him to understand. "Percy, please."

Luke stepped towards me, but Percy took my knife and slammed Backbiter out of his hand.

"Don't touch her," said Percy in a tone I wasn't familiar with.

Kronos' voice came from in front of Percy, "Jackson…"

Next was Luke's voice, and a faint gold glow appeared, "He's changing," said Luke, "Help. He's…he's almost ready. He won't need my body anymore. Please –"

"NO!" Kronos interrupted.

Percy went to chase after Kronos, but the titan pushed him, and he slid right next to me after smashing his head on my mother's throne.

"The knife, Percy," I muttered, the effort to speak nearly too much for me, "Hero…Cursed blade."

I blinked for a moment, and heard Luke say, "Please, Percy."

I struggled to keep my eyes open, and I wasn't hearing anything quite right. I felt someone put their arms around me, and I forced myself to open my eyes, seeing Grover put his arms around me, holding on to me.

"Please," said Luke, "No time."

I shook my head to clear it, and tried to sit up. I needed to see this.

Percy did what he needed to and handed the knife to Luke.

Grover, however, still didn't understand it. "Percy? Are you…um…"

Percy stood stoically in front of Kronos, unarmed, and the three of us watched Luke unlatch his armor and drive my knife into a spot under his arm.

Something like an explosion occurred, and there was no noise. It didn't feel real. When I gained the courage to open my eyes again, Luke was laying at the hearth, looking worn as I'd ever seen him. Grover helped me over to him, and I ignored the fact that I was beginning to cry.

"Good…Blade," Luke stammered to Percy. His left side was covered in blood, but his eyes – his eyes were blue again. He was my Luke again.

He looked up at me, and at that moment I saw the boy who rescued me when I was seven. "You knew," he said in a voice that made my heart ache, "I almost killed you, but you knew…"

"Shh," I said, failing at my attempt to keep it together, "You were a hero at the end, Luke. You'll go to Elysium."

It killed me to see how hard it was for him to shake his head. "Think…Rebirth. Try for three times. Isles of the Blest."

I sniffled, and tried to manage a watery smile. I failed, "You always pushed yourself too hard."

He held up his hand, mangled and hard to look at, and I touched his fingertips lightly.

"Did you," Luke coughed, "Did you love me?"

I pushed my fist into my eyes to remove the tears, "There was a time when I thought," I took a deep breath, needing to get all this out, "Well, I thought…" Words wouldn't cut it. I looked up at Percy, and despite the pain in everything, the fact that he was right there, still alive, and staring at me like there was no one more important in the world, made me feel like everything would be alright. Percy was all that mattered at that moment. "You were like a brother to me, Luke," I said, realizing it as I spoke, "But I didn't love you."

He nodded and winced, filling my heart with worry.

"We can get ambrosia," Grover said, "We can –"

"Grover, you're the bravest satyr I ever knew. But no. There's no healing…" He coughed, and I felt something break inside me.

Luke reached up and tugged on Percy's sleeve. "Ethan. Me. All the unclaimed. Don't let it…Don't let it happen again."

"I won't," said Percy, his voice cracking slightly, "I promise."

His hand dropped from Percy's sleeve, and I felt like I'd just lost a sibling.

I burst into tears, and Percy kneeled next to me and pulled me into his arms. Grover sat down and hugged his knees, tears spilling from his eyes. I took his hand and gave it a light squeeze.

"It's over," I whispered. I didn't know if they could hear me, but it didn't matter, "It's over."

If I had to guess, I would say that the light pressure on the top of my head was Percy giving me a light kiss.

It was an optimistic thought, but in these times, optimism was what I needed.

_A/N2: If anyone knows what "Stabby Rip Stab Stab" is from, I think we need to be friends :P_

_Also, that was I think the longest chapter I've written…Whew!_

_Thank you again to all my readers – I will update with a new chapter as soon as I get moved in and comfortable in my new college._


	32. Watching the Fight

_A/N: You guys are in luck. College snow day translates to hanging out in a dorm all day which means…I HAVE FANFIC-ING TIME. I hope you love this and thank you A MILLION to everyone who reviewed. Truthfully, I was flabbergasted when I saw how many times storyteller1425 reviewed and if I knew you I would run quickly to you and give you the biggest hug known to human kind. I'm somehow almost at 300 reviews! *passes out with joy* _

_Oh, and I have many new friends now: Yes, Stabby Rip Stab Stab is from the emo kid song – you people rule._

_I consider this to be one of the first Percabeth moments, where Annabeth first realizes that Percy isn't just a stupid, mindless halfblood, but instead one who is actually pretty good at what he does._

_Read, review, enjoy!_

Ares was more intimidating now than I remembered him – a big, hulking figure ready to take any of us down with no reprehension.

I had to admit it – I was scared for Percy. "Percy," I said, my voice shaking slightly, "Don't do this. He's a god." A scary as a demon god nonetheless.

"He's a coward," said Percy, turning to me. The look on his face was a combination of tenacity, determination, and outright recklessness, and for some odd reason I admired it.

I swallowed, realizing that nothing I could say to him would change his mind. "Wear this, at least," I said, for once allowing myself to be superstitious, "For luck." I reached behind my neck and unclasped the necklace. I knew I didn't have exactly enough time to clasp it, so I stepped up to him and hastily tied the string behind his neck. In that split second, I glanced up into his eyes. He didn't quite look scared, but there was a little worry in his eyes. He, objectively, was a cute guy. Green eyes, dark hair, brooding look. He'd do well as the hero in a Meg Cabot book.

I shook myself out of it, trying to force back the impulse to give him a ridiculously maudlin hug. "Reconciliation," I said with a small smile, "Athena and Poseidon together."

I fought back the desire to smirk at him as I saw a red blush crawl up his neck. He smiled at me, and quietly said, "Thanks."

Grover stepped next to me. "And take this," he said, handing Percy a flattened tin can. "The satyrs stand behind you."

Both of their eyes got misty, and for a brief moment I thought it was lame. Then I realized that I'd never had a friend that close before Percy and Grover on this quest, and I began to think their little bromance was nice. They had someone – no matter what.

"Grover," said Percy, looking at his best friend, "I don't know what to say." Grover patted Percy on the shoulder, and Percy put the can into his pocket.

"You done saying goodbye?" asked a haughty Ares, walking towards us. Now, I pride myself in being braver than most, and completely able to kick the butt of most opponents.

Ares, on the other hand, scared the bejeezus out of me. When I looked up at his face I was constantly reminded that I was a twelve year old girl, who wouldn't stand a chance against this guy. I was also reminded that Percy probably wouldn't either.

"I've been fighting for eternity, kid. My strength is unlimited and I cannot die. What have you got?"

Well, I thought to myself, Percy's got…

Let me get back to you on that.

Percy backed into the surf, and it was only then that I began to see his effect on the water, and the effect of the water on him. The event in the bathroom was one thing, but the power radiating from him in the sea was undeniable. He used the water to vault over Ares, but even this trick wasn't enough to catch the god off guard. "Not bad, not bad," said Ares with a patronizing smile.

Just on principle, I thought it was really annoying that Ares thought he was this big and bad warrior because he was defeating a twelve year old. A brave, strong, kind of cute when he's angry demigod twelve year old, but still.

And I mean that objectively.

I began to notice some problems when Ares managed to get Percy out of the water, and that's when I began to worry. Percy wasn't as good without his water advantage – I could already tell that he was fading and doing all he could just to avoid getting chopped into little pieces.

Suddenly, I began to hear a familiar noise like a siren, and I lost focus on the battle for a moment as I saw familiar blue and red lights approaching the beach.

"Percy!" I called over to him, "Cops!" I looked back over at him – when had he hit the dunes? He stood up, stumbling and wincing, and I began to feel a little bit glad that I didn't see his impact with the dune.

More lights began flashing, and people ran out of the cars. Grover and I exchanged a worried look.

"What do we do?" he asked, looking nervous, "We can't just walk over to them and say, 'hey, look man, they're having a fight with swords, don't worry about it. It's just the war god and a twelve year old boy.'"

"Did you hear me suggest that we do that?" I hissed into his ear, "No," I said before he could answer, "No, I did not. So shut up, and…and…"  
"You have no idea what you're doing."

Luckily, somebody yelled, "There, officer! See?" before I could respond to Grover, because I probably would have yelled at him something fierce.

To my dismay, a cop said, "Looks like that kid on TV…What the heck?"

"That guy's armed. Call for backup."

"Armed?" Grover asked me quietly.

"The Mist," I said. I glanced over to where Ares and Percy were fighting, and began to see the swords in their hands morph from swords to guns. "Grover, there's…We have to get out of the way, if someone thinks Ares has a gun and is going to shoot…They might think we're accomplices if they see us. Let's get behind here."

"Wha…?"

"Just come with me!" I said, dragging him by the front of the shirt, "Sheesh, you'd think you've never heard English before."

The two of us moved farther left of where Percy and Ares were fighting, near enough that we could still see what was going on, but too far away to hear anything Percy or Ares would say.

The battle continued, and Grover kept tugging on my arm.

"What do you want?" I asked, whipping around.

He spat out a bit of my hair. "Ow, first of all," he said, "Thank you for whipping me in the fact with your pony tail. Second of all, the cops are here, like, over by Percy and Ares here," he said, pointing over to where a police officer with a megaphone stood. "You were so enthralled with the sword fight that you obviously hadn't noticed that minor detail."

"Oh, would you just –"

"Drop the guns!" shouted the man with the megaphone, "Set them on the ground! Now!"

Immediately the weapons became guns instead of swords. I blinked hard, and they flickered between what was real and what the Mist created.

"THIS IS A PRIVATE MATTER," Ares yelled loud enough for Grover and I to hear, "Be gone!" He waved his hand, and immediately a wall of flames erupted across the police cars.

With the police officers distracted, Ares turned back to Percy, and after a bit of fighting, Percy finally, FINALLY, got back in control of the water. I smiled despite the situation. He could do this.

A nifty trick with a six foot wave made it so Percy could pierce Ares' heel. Unfortunately, this just made him mad. Even from where I stood, I could see the look of confusion and surprise on Ares' face as he began walking, angrily, towards Percy. He took a brief glance over Percy's shoulder at Grover and me, but I couldn't at that moment seem to muster any sort of defiant facial expression and settled for staring at him blankly.

It became dark. I felt as if I was falling asleep or being compressed into a small, compact place, and I didn't like the feeling.

"Come on," I said to Grover, having the strangest sensation that I was speaking and moving slowly, "Ares' isn't moving." I grabbed Grover's wrist and the two of us walked carefully towards the two warriors. As we made our way over, I heard Ares say to Percy, "You have made an enemy, godling. You have sealed your fate. Every time you raise your blade in battle, every time you hope for success, you will feel my curse. Beware, Perseus Jackson. Beware."

Oh, I thought, awesome, now we have ANOTHER thing to deal with. And by we I mean Percy.

Suddenly, I saw Ares begin to glow, and as I turned away, I saw Percy wasn't doing the same. "Percy!" I shouted, "Don't watch!"

I could only hope that he followed my advice, as I had closed my eyes and turned towards the dune behind us.

I turned back around to see Percy racing towards us with the Helm of Darkness, but, of course, before he could get to us, someone else got in the way: the Furies.

"We saw the whole thing," hissed the middle fury, "So…It truly was not you?"

Percy, as usual, was nonchalant about the whole thing and simply tossed her the Helm as if it was a basketball. "Return that to Lord Hades," he said in a cool tone, "Tell him the truth. Tell him to call off the war."

I couldn't decide if it worried or impressed me how calmly he could speak to an agent of the Lord of Death.

"Live well, Percy Jackson," said the Fury, "Become a true hero, because if you do not, if you ever come into my clutches again…" The Fury cackled and flew off, making me feel like I just had to hear nails on a chalkboard.

"Percy," said Grover when Percy walked over to us, "That was so incredibly…"

Brave? Impressive? Stupid? Idiotic? Skilled? I settled for saying, "Terrifying…"

"Cool!"

Percy out of nowhere looked like he needed eight years of sleep. "Did you feel that…Whatever it was?" he asked, his eyes darting over to us. Grover and I nodded.

"Must have been the Furies overhead," said Grover uncertainly.

Percy looked over at me, and at that moment I knew that he understood exactly what was going on.

Kronos.

"We have to get back to New York," said Percy, "By tonight."

I blinked at him. A second later, I realized he wasn't kidding. "That's impossible," I said, thinking about how annoying it was that Percy annoyed the god of the sky, "Unless we –"

"Fly," said Percy.

Did he hit his head recently? I gave him a look that I hope conveyed my opinion that he was either concussed or just stupid. "Fly," I said, "Like, in an airplane, which you were warned never to do lest Zeus strike you out of the sky, and carrying a weapon that has more destructive power than a nuclear bomb."

"Yeah," said Percy like I'd just asked him if he wanted to watch TV, "Pretty much exactly like that. Come on."

He took my hand and started to try and bring me into some random direction. "Come on," he said, trying to pull me, "We've got to get out of here before one of the police officers comes over and questions us." I just stared at our intertwined hands.

"I think they're a step ahead of us with that one," said Grover, nodding towards the congregation of cops.

"Uh oh," said Percy.

Percy was still holding onto my hand, and I was beginning to get a little bit uncomfortable. I stared at him again. "Why are you touching me?"

He dropped my hand as if it was on fire. "You…I…Um –"

Luckily, a cop came over before Percy could be awkward anymore. "Excuse me, kids," he said, staring us down, "But we have some questions we need to ask."


	33. Annabeth Is Not Sick

_A/N: Helloooo! I have returned! And I have 8 hours of classes today so this is a good way to go, "Okay, tonight I will get back to my dorm and there will be happy reviews to cheer me up." Hint wink :) _

_To WishAlwaysLaughOften: I've actually completed two novels and I'm working on two more at the moment, so all I have to do is complete those other two, edit the four of them until my brain falls out, and get them to an editor. Thank you for your compliment! *hugs*_

_Thank you very much to dancr for this idea – I had SO much fun with this!_

_Thank you to my reviewers – I wish I could establish a cookie factory and give you all free passes to the cookie dough station._

_Read, review, enjoy!_

"I'b dot sick."

Percy looked down at me and failed at stifling a smile. "I'm sorry, Annabeth, what was that?"

"I'b…I'b… I ab…I ab dot …I'b not sick! I do dot have a cold!"

"I don't believe that, sweetie," he said, giving me a little pat on the head. "You can't do any training today."

"But I hab stuff to do!" I said, sneezing in the middle. Percy promptly handed me a tissue. "Dank you."

"You'll infect you entire camp if you leave your cabin today," he said, smoothing my hair back.

"I'll infect all ob da Athena cabin if I stay in here dough."

"We'll make sure they don't come too close to you then," he said, kissing me on the cheek, and feeling my forehead, "Well, you don't have a fever, so –"

"So I'b dot sick!" I said happily. Then I coughed. "Ow…"

"Wrong," he said, patting me on the head again, "You've got a cold, Annabeth, accept it."

I defiantly shook my head. "Dobody gets colds in da summer. I don't hab a cold."

"You've got a cold, Annabeth."

I shook my head. "I do dot!"

"Want me to go get Chiron or one the Apollo kids to check you out?"

I stared at him, horrified. "Don't eben think aboud it."

"You're so coherent when you're nose is stuffed up." He kissed me lightly on the nose and then grabbed another box of tissues for me. "Here, Annabeth, you were running out."

"Danks," I said, blowing my nose, probably looking exceptionally attractive doing so, "You do, dis is all your fault."

"How is this MY fault?" he asked bewildered.

"You dunked me in da lake the odder day, after we fell into da strawberries. It's your fault. Stupid Seaweed Brain."

"Oh!" he said, sitting on the edge of my bed, "It's my fault now. What is my fault? Are you admitting you are sick?"

"No," I said with a sniffle, "I ab just saying dat, if I wad sick, it would be your fault."

"My fault."

I nodded, "And – ACHOO!"

"Very well put."

"Shud up."

Percy, in a completely rude action for someone who should be taking care of his ill girlfriend, picked up a pillow and whacked me in the face with it.

"OW!" I shouted, "Don'd do dat!"

He smiled his snarky little smile and kissed me lightly on the lips.

"Now why would you do dat?" I asked him, sniffling a little bit, "Dow you'll ged sick."

He shrugged and stood up off of the bed with a cute little smile on his face, "Don't care. You're too cute when you're not killing me."

"You just waid undil I'm bedder, Pedeud Jackdon. I will kick your butt so hard your dad will feel it in Olympus."

He leaned down and patted my cheek, the cute smile turning snarky again, "We'll see, love."

* * *

"WHY DO ALL YOU PEOPLE TINK I AM SICK?" I shouted as one of the Apollo kids were waving his hands over my head, "I'b dot sick!"

Chiron, Will Solace and Percy all barked out a laugh at the same time. Will put his hand above my forehead and moved it across my head.

"She's sick," said Will, backing away from me as I let out a ferocious sneeze, "It's a common cold, so I can't exactly heal it, but she should be better after tonight. Check on her when she wakes up tomorrow morning, but I wouldn't let her out of the cabin."

"Why not?" asked Percy, looking as concerned as he did when I took the knife for him two years before, "Is she weak? Is she too ill to stand?"

"No," said Will, "She's going to infect everyone. I don't want to have to heal a freaking epidemic."

"I ab dot going to infect da whole c – ACHOO!"

My, admittedly loud but still just a sneeze, sneeze did not merit their reactions. Percy burst into laughter and fell to the floor. Chiron whinnied in surprise and hit his head on the ceiling which usually was high enough for him. Will, who unfortunately was the closest, jumped so high that, when he fell back down, he knocked into Chiron and fell over.

"I hade all of you." I folded my arms across my chest as I watched all of them laugh. Will left, muttering about viruses and sanitation showers, which I considered an overstatement.

"He was overreacting," I said nonchalantly.

"Annabeth, you sneezed in his face."

"He was standing too close," I said, punctuating my sentence with a sniffle.

Percy and Chiron exchanged a look. "Yeah," said Percy, "You might be adorable when you're sick and your nose is this pink and you –" Chiron cleared his throat, and Percy turned red, "Um, yeah, right. But what I, um, was trying to say…"

"Spit it out, Percy," said Chiron with an unapologetic eye roll. I was tempted to mention that it was kind of childish for a millennia-old centaur to roll his eyes, but at that moment I wasn't sure I wanted to deal with his wrath.

"I just meant that you, erm," Percy was still red, and I stifled a laugh, "You should stay in bed until you're better."

"But I hab to beat you in da sword fight!" I complained, "And I hab to help you in Ancient Greek. You still hab no idea whad you are doing after six years!"

"I'll help him."

I frowned at Chiron. "But I ab his tutor!"

"You 'ab' a counselor, Annabeth. A counselor who is sick. You need your rest, my dear, we can't have you this ill on the fireworks."

"I'B GONNA BE SICK ON DA FIREWORKS?" I shouted. I realized after the fact that it kind of killed my throat. "Ow…" I said in a weak voice.

"Not if you sit down, shut up, and sleep," said Percy with a light kiss on my cheek, "Now sit down, shut up and sleep."

"Can I read?"

"No," said Chiron and Percy at once.  
"You guys are no fun…"

* * *

"We're coming back in to check on you every twenty minutes," said Percy, "Because we know you will probably try to sneak out."

"I will not!" I said from my bed, "And where are all my siblings?"

"They have been told to avoid this cabin at all costs."

"You could have said that more delicately, Percy."

My boyfriend shrugged, a silly grin on his face. "Hey, she wants me to be real with her, I'll be real with her. They didn't want to catch your little plague."

"I AB DOT SICK!"

"You just keep telling yourself that, sweetie," said Percy with a wave as the two of them left.

It didn't take me long before I climbed out the window across from my bed and darted outside.

I realized, however, that I had nowhere particularly useful to go, so I settled for the one place that no demigod would be during the day in the summer.

The small library in the Big House.

Using my invisibility cap, I sauntered past Percy and Chiron who were teaching some new kids how to parry a blade. For good measure, I picked up a handful of dirt and poured it into Percy's shoe. I managed to get out of the way before he noticed, but what was harder was trying to keep from laughing.

I snuck into the library and inhaled the scent of books. It always made me smile to be in here – no one other than the Athena kids actually came in here of their own volition, but for us it was like our own slice of heaven. Midway through, however, the feeling was marred by a violent sneeze.

When I was about ten pages into a book on Norse mythology, I heard Nico shout, "But I was standing right by the window!"

They were having NICO stand guard at the Athena door? No wonder it was so easy to escape.

I smiled as I continued reading. Percy shouted from what sounded like the front of the Big House, "She'll be in the library. It's Annabeth. We'll find her with her nose in a book, like always."

I would have protested if I could, but if my hands weren't holding my knife or my lips not kissing Percy's, I did have my nose in a book.

"In here," said Percy. The door opened, and I smiled happily, a giddy feeling pooling in my chest. They couldn't see me. I could sit here for hours and they –

"Found you, nerd," said Percy with a grin, waving the hat he had pulled off my head in the air.

"How da heck did you know where I wad sitting?" I asked, befuddled.

"You always sit here," said Nico with an eye roll, "You're incredibly predictable."

"I still snuck past your unobserbant butt," I said.

Nico held up his hands, "Fine, you know what, I admit it, you snuck past me. But I didn't ask to be put on Annabeth duty."

Percy took my hand and handed me back my cap. "Now," he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders, "You need to stay in bed."

"But I don't wand do!"

"Annabeth…"

I sighed and kept walking. "Fine…"

* * *

Ten minutes after they left the second time (and twenty minutes after Chiron had made me show them I had actually changed back into pajamas) I stood up, pulled off the sweatpants and baggy tee shirt to reveal my shorts and my Camp Half Blood shirt.

"Oh yeah," I sniffled, "I'b still god id."

"Put on your pajamas, Annabeth."

"HOW DID YOU READ MY MIND?" I shouted, seeing Percy leaning casually on the door frame, "How in da world did you do that?"

He shrugged, looking far too good doing so. "I know you, Annabeth. Did you not realize that I have been hanging out outside the window across the room for the past twenty minutes, waiting for you to try and leave? When I peeked in and saw you stand up, I came to the door. They wouldn't have put Nico back on guard."

I glared at him. "Wait," I said, turning back around to curl up under my bed sheets. Though it was summer, for some strange reason I was cold. "How did you know I wad going to try and go out da window?"

He walked over to me, and gripped my headboard, one hand on either side of my head. "Annabeth," he whispered in a way that made my heart stop, and the sneeze that was on its way halt in its tracks, "We've been sneaking out our cabins to meet up with each other for two summers now." He leaned in closer. I could feel his breath on my cheek, and my heart started pounding far too fast, "I know your tricks."

"Darn you," I said, pulling his head down to mine so I could kiss him.

Unfortunately, he broke it off sooner than I planned. Which translated to about ten minutes after it began. "Annabeth," he said, breathing heavily, "You, um, you're sick."

I felt strangely hurt. "And you don't want to ged sick from me. I ged it, it makes sense," I said.

He looked surprised. "No!" he said, looking genuinely shocked, "No, Annabeth, if that was it," he looked momentarily devious, "I wouldn't care. You know me."

I shrugged, "I suppose," I said, smiling, "Then why?"

"Because you look like you're about to fall asleep and you don't need this kind of activity when you're trying to get rid of this cold."

I crossed my arms and snuggled back under the covers. "Id is only kissing, Percy."

"Some pretty intense kissing."

"Dat is because I ab such a good kisser. I ab better than you in all different aspects of life. Remember dat."

"Except, apparently, at avoiding the plague."

"Id's just a little cold!" I said, rolling over and glaring at him.

He smiled. "Well, look at that, you just admitted you had a cold."

I hated to admit that he was right.

"Darn you, Perdeud Jackdon."

He leaned in and gave me a quick peck on the lips. "You know you love me."

I shrugged. "I guess…If I hab to…"

* * *

Two days later, I had been healed for a day, but Percy was laying in bed miserable.  
"You know," I said, smirking, "You could have avoided this all by not kissing me."

"No," he said, "You're wrong."

"Why?" I asked, touched, "Because you couldn't have gone a day without kissing me?"

"Nah. You sneezed all over me earlier – I would have been infected without all the kisses."

Nico and Chiron had to pry the pillow I was pummeling Percy with out of my hands.


	34. Styx

_A/N: Okay, I know this is WICKED short. Like, only 508 words short. I just wanted to update again today as a major thank you to everyone who reviewed and commented yesterday, and I assure you that I will be delivering another chapter of something this week other than just this._

_I just wanted to post this to show my gratitude to all of my readers – each review I get, each hit or visitor I get makes me nearly jump for joy. I was having an exhausting and bad day yesterday, and when I came back to my dorm to find not three, not five, not even seven, but thirteen new reviews I immediately felt better and like hugging the world. Thank you so much guys!_

_Set while the trio is heading to the Underworld in TLT. Pages 289 and 290._

_Read, review, and most importantly enjoy!_

The underworld was the last place I wanted to be. Styx? Well, that wasn't the prettiest place I'd ever been either.

"The River Styx," I said quietly, trying to hide the fear growing in my heart, "It's so…" My sentence trailed off – how could I describe the feeling of despair and failure floating around me, the disappointment rising off the river like mist?

Suddenly a scene began to form in my mind's eye – everything I've hoped for, everything that I've worked for failing. I remembered Thalia fighting to her own death and Grover and Luke pulling me back as I tried to run to help her, and all the monsters we had to fight just to end up with her death. I thought about this entire quest, only to make it here. Then the worst – the prophecy coming true, the world ending. I saw my mother crying out for me, telling me how miserably I'd failed. I saw Thalia's tree burn. I saw Grover and Luke and, for some odd reason, Percy fall, broken, by the blades of faceless monsters. I felt the world slip from underneath me, and I realized with a feeling of ice through my heart that I was seeing what could possibly be my own death.

When Percy shifted and his arm brushed against mine, I snapped back into reality, or what seemed to be reality for me.

I wanted to shake my head, get all of this dread out of me. No matter what I did, I was frightened. I couldn't ignore it anymore. I looked over at Percy, whose face was white as a sheet. He looked as worried as I was.

Before I knew what I was doing, I reached back and took Percy's hand lightly. It was stupid, I supposed, but I needed to know I had a friend, that someone was here with me. I wanted to be sure I wasn't alone. Something felt right by holding his hand. For some reason, knowing the two of us had each other was what we needed at the moment. I felt myself noticing the smoothness of the back of his hand and the rough patches already forming in calluses from sword play.

Perhaps I wouldn't have to make myself hate him. He seemed like a good kid – and, at the moment, I could tolerate him.

Percy was nice, I supposed, and not as irritating as Poseidon kids were supposed to be.

Percy was muttering something along the line of, "Please let me get through this, please let me find my mother," over and over again, and the continuous pattern calmed me. I stared into the distance, looking to where we were headed. Grover, on my other side, had his eyes covered and was whimpering quietly. He wasn't exactly much help.

The darkness approaching was intimidating, but I was glad I wasn't alone. Even though he was a kelp-brained, dumb, annoying, kind of brave, sort of cute, infuriating demigod, I couldn't help but appreciate Percy's presence in such a dreadful place.


	35. Flaws and Voices

_A/N: First off, I wish I could hug all of you guys for all your reviewing and epic reading. I've gotten so many hits this month, and over 35,000 for Illogical and Stupid, which makes me want to jump for joy each time I remember that. Thanks guys!_

_I always wondered what Annabeth was thinking here, and especially what she murmured that Percy couldn't hear. Sea of Monsters pages 193-201 if you would like to follow along!_

_Read, review, enjoy!_

The voices.

They were telling me everything I wanted – and they were giving it to me.

It was right there, and I couldn't get to it.

I struggled against the ropes, unashamed by the tears pouring down my face. "Percy!" I shouted, sobbing, "How could you do this to me? Percy, please, if you care about me at all –"

My sentence was cut short when I saw it – right on the island in front of me, what I could have. The most beautiful buildings, graceful and elegant, were looming above the city. Luke and my parents were sitting on the green, gesturing to the picnic they had prepared for us. My heart leapt, and the tears dried. I ran to them…But I was stopped again.

The ropes.

I struggled again, cursing that son of Poseidon's whose only desire in life was to ruin what I had. "How could you be so cruel?" I asked him, barely feeling the rope burns searing my skin, "I thought you were my friend!" All the coward could do was turn away to the island. He knew exactly what I saw and he was keeping me from it. He stared at the island with a pained look on his face, which would fade into disgust every once in a while.

He was jealous of the family I could have. That was why he was keeping me away.

"I thought I could trust you, I thought you cared for me!" I sobbed. "And I…Wait," I said, "My knife!" Percy couldn't hear me and wasn't looking at me. He didn't even care how much he was hurting me right now.

I shifted my arm slightly so the knife, held in a holster on my upper arm, balanced on the edge of the rope holding me closest to my arm. I wiggled my shoulder just enough – and it broke free. My right arm was free. In seconds the knife was out of the holster and into my hand, and I was hacking and sawing with reckless abandon. The sooner I was done, the sooner I could see my mother, father, and my Luke.

I threw the knife down and dove into the water. For a brief moment as my head was submerged, I found myself wondering what I was doing, but the second I rose from the waves I remembered. I swam towards them as fast as I could, but each stroke felt like hours.

When I was near to the island, however, I felt something wrap tightly around my ankle. I shrieked – someone was trying to drag me away. When I turned around, I saw the Cyclops who delayed Grover, Luke, Thalia and I, the one who confused us and made it so we didn't get to Camp Half Blood in time. I screamed. "Get off of me!" I shouted frantically. I drew my leg back and gave it a fierce kick in the face, but he held on tight. I fought and punched, but he wrapped his arms around my wrist. "Get off! Let me go!" I screamed.

We plunged underwater, and for the first time I realized how cold it was. I looked into the face of the Cyc – wait. It was Percy. I blinked hard and began to sputter.

We reached the surface again, and the Cyclops' disguise melted away – I punched him in the face and tried to push his arms away from me. It wasn't working, and I was beginning to panic. I took a fleeting glance over to my parents and Luke, who were still waving to me.

The Cyclops wrapped his hands around my waist tightly – there was no way I could get away now. We plunged downwards into the sea, and as we dived farther and farther into the sea, my head began to clear. At the same time, however, my lungs began to burn for air. Looking at what used to be the Cyclops, I pushed against Percy, this time trying to communicate that I couldn't breathe.

Percy glanced at me and closed his eyes. With one hand he continued to hold me around the waist, and with the other he made an upward motion, and I watched bubbles in a white mass float up around us.

Oxygen.

I gasped and greedily sucked in the cool air, and finally, after all the immediate dangers were gone, the visions of what could have been swam across my vision. The Sirens found exactly what I wanted – my parents, my city, my Luke – and I almost died for it all. I shook violently with my gasping breaths and I looked up at the boy who saved me.

The look on Percy's face was what broke me. Sympathy, concern and pity flitted across his face before he settled on smiling comfortingly and holding his arms out.

I felt the vision being ripped away from me, and with it I felt sobs pouring out. Each sob shook me hard and I could barely keep my balance. Without caring what he would think or how this would look to someone else, I leaned my head on Percy's shoulder and wrapped my arms around his neck. I needed to be sure someone still cared, that someone thought I mattered.

I remembered the thoughts I had when I was on the ship – how could I have thought he was jealous of what I saw? All Percy had ever done was try to help me.

This thought sent another wave of sobs through me, and I felt his arms tighten around my waist. I felt his chin in my hair, and it was comforting to know someone was here – especially if that someone was a one Percy Jackson.

"I'll get us back to the ship," Percy said in a quiet voice, the first thing I'd heard other than my own sobs since the Sirens, "It's okay. Just hang on."

I nodded, "Thank you Percy. I…You're a really great friend," I said quietly. I saw that he had the wax in his ears though and couldn't hear me. It was probably for the best.

We floated upwards towards the boat, and then began to float close behind it until Percy decided that we had reached far enough away from the voices of the Sirens. Percy glanced over to me with a worried expression, and I chanced a careful smile.

We rose to the surface and the popping noise of the bubble startled me. A rope dropped over the side of the boat and Percy smiled at me. "After you, milady," he said with a smile.

I returned it and started up the rope. I was dripping wet, and I had a fleeting though that I was probably soaking Percy beneath me. I looked down with the intent to ask him about it, but he was pointedly looking away from me.

I had to say I appreciated that.

When I managed to reach the dock, I reached out my hand for Percy to take, and I helped pull him up. He took it absentmindedly and kind of held on for longer than necessary. Having a flashback to after his battle with Ares, I stared at it and then gave him a funny look. He blushed and pulled away.

"Um," he shouted, "Do you need a blanket?" he asked. I smiled.

"Yes, please."

As he left to get the blanket, I started to hear the Sirens again, but this time the spell wasn't the same. Instead of wanting to go to them, I felt like something was being taken from me time and time again. Everything began to hurt – my muscles from swimming, my lungs from lack of air, my heart from what I saw and what I was hearing, and my head from trying to process everything.

Percy came back with the blanket and found my hugging my knees and sitting on the ground. Without a word, he draped the blanket over my shoulders. I pulled the corners around me tighter and stared at the horizon, trying my best to force out the music.

Eventually, though, I didn't have to try. It disappeared.

I turned, around and mumbled, "It's safe."

Percy pulled out his ear plugs and looked around. "You okay?" he asked.

The comment was so Percy it made me feel a little bit better. "I didn't realize…"

"What?" he asked, stepping closer towards me.

I looked up into his bright eyes. "How powerful the temptation would be."

For a brief moment, Percy looked incredibly uncomfortable. I worried – had I done something while under the spell that would have made him think badly of me?

"I saw the way you built Manhattan. And Luke, and your parents."

I felt my face turn red. "You saw that?" I asked, ashamed.

"What Luke told you," said Percy, leaning against the mast, "back on the Princess Andromeda, about starting the world from scratch…" He absentmindedly ran his hand through his hair, "That really got to you, huh?"

I pulled the blanket tighter around me and refused to meet his eyes. "My fatal flaw. That's what the Siren's showed me. My fatal flaw is hubris."

Percy blinked and looked confused. "That brown stuff they spread on veggie sandwiches?"

I rolled my eyes and found myself with a strange desire to laugh a little bit. Percy never changed, and something about that made things feel a little more okay. "No, Seaweed Brain. That's hummus. Hubris is worse."

"What can be worse than hummus?" he asked with a goofy grin plastered across his face.

"Hubris means deadly pride, Percy," I said, refusing to dignify his joke with a laugh, "Thinking you can do things better than anyone else…Even the gods."

"You feel that way?"

I wanted to deny it. I wanted to tell him that I didn't feel that way at all, but I couldn't lie about this. I looked at my shoes sticking out from under the blanket. "Don't you ever feel like, what if the world really is messed up? What if we could do it all over again from scratch? No more war. Nobody homeless. No more summer reading homework."

"I'm listening."

We rambled on about fatal flaws, and I thought in the back of my mind what Percy's would be – probably something to do with people he cared about.

Percy risked his life for people he cared about daily – he'd proven that moments ago.

"So," said Percy after a moment of silence, "was it worth it? Do you feel…wiser?"

I turned my head and stared into the ocean. "I'm not sure. But we have to save the camp. If we don't stop Luke…"

I couldn't finish the sentence even if my life depended on it. Luke's idea tempted me – ME – and I consider myself to be one of the most intelligent demigods out there right now. I was worried for everyone.

I chanced a glance up at Percy – he was watching the horizon but seeing something else, looking weirdly heroic doing so. I wasn't sure if he was the kid of the prophecy or what he would do, but I knew he would do something great.

If he didn't screw things up getting there, that is.


	36. Westover Hall

_A/N: Hello again! I have no idea why but I keep having a lot of time to update even at school._

_Thank you to Allison for the idea for this chapter!_

_To follow along, check pages 1 to 13 in The Titan's Curse!_

_A-read, a-review, a-enjoy!_

I shivered outside the borders of Camp Half Blood. Thalia was leaning against her tree nonchalantly, ignoring everything else and just staring into the distance.

I was jealous of that. I, on the other hand, was trying to shut off my brain. I didn't want to have to go on crazy missions to possibly save half bloods – I wish half bloods didn't have to be saved. It reminded me too much of why Thalia's return was so shocking.

"When will Mrs. Jackson be here?" I muttered to myself, beginning to pace. "I'm freezing out my rump off." I began to bounce, hoping that somehow I would warm up. It didn't help.

"You sure it's Mrs. Jackson that you're waiting for?" asked Thalia with a sly grin. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh shut up, Pine Queen, I'm just cold."

"And you want steamy son of the sea god to warm you up." I refused to respond. Thalia, unfortunately took this as a yes, "You likeeeeeee him," she said with a ridiculous smile. "You want to cuddle up with him. You want to go –"

"Shut up, Thalia."

She shrugged and smiled. "It's my job to irritate you, Annabeth. I haven't been able to for quite some time."

I forcefully yanked my hat over my ears and pushed my hair up into it, trying to decide which would make me warmer. "You could use the lost time to be nice or at least tolerable."

She shook her head and smoothed her choppy bangs out of her eyes, "Nah. That's no fun."

I sighed and we stayed silent until we saw the familiar car drive up. "Finally!" I said, shifting my backpack over my shoulders, "Gods, my ears are pretty much falling off!"

Thalia gave me a clap on the shoulder, "Chill out, Annabeth. I had to stand out in the winter for six years. This is nothing."

"Yes," I said as I stepped towards the car, "But I am not a tree."

Mrs. Jackson rolled down the window. "Hi, girls, you ready to go?"

I nodded, "Can't wait."

"SHOT GUN!" shouted Thalia, sprinting from behind me.

"That is NOT fair!" I called out, but Thalia had already managed to rip open the passenger side door and slide into the seat, with her backpack on her lap. She smiled up at me.

"I have to sit next to Seaweed Brain?" I complained, only half joking.

Percy grinned up at me apologetically as he pulled open the door, "Sorry, Wise Girl, you're stuck in the backseat with me."

I walked around the car to the seat behind Mrs. Jackson. Pushing Percy's bag out of the way, I slid into the seat and shoved my backpack down by my feet, "Joy and rapture…" I mumbled.

"So, girls," said Mrs. Jackson, far too cheery, "How have you been?"

Thalia and I exchanged a look. The two of us had had a lot of catching up to do over the past couple of months – Chiron and Mr. D had given me special permission to spend a few nights in Zeus' cabin so the two of us could spend time together.

"Um," I said, "Good. I figured out trigonometry finally."

"Really?" said Percy, "I've barely got the Pythagorean theorem down."

I patted Percy on the top of his messy black hair. "That's because you're full of seaweed."

He pushed my hand off of his head and slapped it away. "Oh, shut up."

"You guys are adorable," said Mrs. Jackson, "I bet you guys have missed each other a lot over the school year, right?"

Percy and I exchanged a horrified look as Thalia cracked up in the front seat. "Actually," said Thalia, "Annabeth had a dream a little while ago about Percy getting attacked by a weird monster. She woke up and shook me awake. I had to calm her down."

I reached over the seat and punched her in the shoulder. "Shut UP, Thalia," I grumbled, feeling my face turn bright red.

I chanced a glance over to Percy, who was pointedly avoiding my eyes and turning just as red.

"That's funny!" said Mrs. Jackson, "Actually, Percy was sleepwalking for the first time since he was probably nine years old a few days ago, and he walked into my room and said your name a few times, Annabeth."

My eyes widened. I didn't even want to risk another glance to Percy. My face could have been on fire at this point.

"Really?" said Thalia, "Percy sleepwalks?"

She nodded. "Yes! This one time, he was probably six years old, he walked into my bedroom in his little Spiderman boxers –" Thalia and I barked out a laugh, "And started crying because he thought he was lost in…Where was it, dear?"

"Dumember," Percy mumbled, his face buried in his hands.

"What was that, honey?" his mother said brightly.

"I don't…Don't remember."

"RIGHT!" she said with a nervous laugh, "You were scared you were trapped in Narnia with all the snow! Oh, honey, you were crying so hard, it was adorable! And then you started asking me to read you Berenstain Bears because you couldn't sleep. You were so cute!"

"Thanks, Mom…" Percy muttered. I barely heard him over Thalia's and my laughter.

* * *

The rest of the ride didn't take much from Thalia, Percy or me. Mrs. Jackson took care of the entertainment by telling us a bunch of stories, from Percy losing his swim trunks during his fifth grade swim class to his first grade teacher calling home because he refused to play outside with the girls. The best one, though, was her account of his third birthday party. "…And then he walked into the room with his diaper around his ankles, asking for more cake! It was adorable!"

In the back of my mind, the worry was eating away at me. We had no idea if this was a demigod. If it was a demigod, he or should could be the child of a minor god or possibly worse – I was particularly worried what would happen if we discovered that Percy had two younger siblings.

I immediately thought of the castle in Sleeping Beauty when we arrived at Westover Hall. Big, looming and black, I didn't think there would be any time when I'd want to go in there.

But we had no choice.

"Oh, yeah," said Percy, staring out Thalia's window, "This'll be fun."

I pulled the bag up from under Mrs. Jackson's chair and set it on my lap.

"Are you sure you don't want me to wait?" Mrs. Jackson asked nervously.

"No thanks, Mom," Percy said hurriedly as he yanked his bag off of the middle seat and swung it over his shoulder hurriedly. "I don't know how long it will take. We'll be okay."

"But how will you get back? I'm worried, Percy." I was a little bit offended on Mrs. Jackson's part that Percy was blushing at this. I'd never had a parent be concerned for me like this. I wished my mother or even my father would worry about me, and Percy treated it like an inconvenience.

I turned towards Mrs. Jackson. "It's okay, Mrs. Jackson," I said, "We'll keep him out of trouble." I pretended not to notice the wink that Thalia gave me, and hoped Percy didn't either.

Mrs. Jackson beamed at me. "All right, dears. Do you have everything you need?"

"Yes, Mrs. Jackson," said Thalia, "Thanks for the ride."

"Extra sweaters?" she asked. "You have my cell phone number."

"Mom –"

"Your ambrosia and nectar, Percy? And a golden drachma in case you need to contact camp?"

"Mom, seriously!" said Percy a little too forcefully, "We'll be fine. Come on, guys."

It surprised me a little bit to see how little Percy acknowledged his mother's concern. Maybe it was just because I'd never had it, but if I were him I think I'd appreciate it a little more.

Percy gave his mother a little smile and a wave, and let her drive off.

The three of us watched the car drive away. "Your mom is so cool, Percy."

"She's pretty okay," said Percy, looking like he wished we would change the subject. "What about you? You ever get in touch with your mom?"

I was glad that I wasn't on the receiving end of Thalia's glare. The second Percy said it, I knew he was about to get reamed out like nothing before.

"If that was any of your business, Percy –"

"We'd better get inside," I interrupted, looking between the two of them and hoping it would diffuse the situation, "Grover will be waiting."

Luckily, Thalia nodded. "You're right. I wonder what he found here that made him send the distress call." The three of us stared upwards at the castle.

"Nothing good," Percy said.

Silently, we sort of marched in line up to the giant castle. We walked into the doors and Percy's first reaction was, "Whoa." I saw him lightly touch his pocket containing Riptide, and Thalia fiddle with her silver bracelet. I tried to avoid moving my hand up to my upper arm knife holster – I didn't want to give anything away like the two impulsive kids were doing,

After a brief interlude where I was convinced we were about to get caught and thrown out of the building, Grover gave Thalia and me hugs, and Percy a high five.

"So," Percy said, "What's the emergency?"

Grover took a deep breath, and I could tell he was trying not to bleat. "I found two."

"Two half bloods? Here?" Thalia asked.

Grover nodded. "A brother and sister. They're ten and twelve. I don't know their parentage, but they're strong. We're running out of time, though. I need help."

"Monsters?" I asked.

"One," said a nervous Grover, "He suspects. I don't think he's positive yet, but this is the last day of term, I'm sure he won't let them leave campus without finding out. It may be our last chance! Every time I try to get close to them, he's always there, blocking me. I don't know what to do!" He shot Thalia a look, and on my side I noticed Percy look a little hurt. I had the strangest impulse to tell Grover to ask Percy for help, but I shook it off.

"Right," said Thalia, "These half bloods are at the dance?"

Grover nodded.

"Then let's dance. Who's the monster?"

"Oh, you just met him." Grover looked around nervously, and met my eyes. I knew right then. "The vice principle, Dr. Thorn."

* * *

I smiled when I saw Thalia and Grover go out onto the dance floor.

"What?" Percy asked.

I almost asked "What what?" but then I looked at his face. For a moment it looked like he was worried about something – I couldn't figure out what. I got a good look at him for the first time. I was taller than him again, and I tried to fight back a laugh.

"Nothing," I answered, "It's just cool to have Thalia back."

Out of nowhere I realized that I was way hotter than necessary. I pulled off my cap and absentmindedly brushed my hair over my shoulder.

"So…" said Percy in a weirdly strangled voice. "Um, design any good buildings lately?"

I smiled. In a few seconds he will have wished he never asked me that. "Oh my gods, Percy. At my new school I get to take 3-D design as an elective, and there's this cool computer program where I get to model certain designs with the weights, depths, heights, all of it is inputted. It sucks when you figure out that the supports don't hold everything up but…" As I chatted, I realized that Percy was staring at me with this goofy look on his face. He looked disappointed and bored, and for some reason grinning a bit. To spare him, I stopped talking.

"Yeah, uh, cool," said Percy, smiling a little, "So you're staying there the rest of the year?"

I felt my expression fade. "Well, maybe, if I don't –"

"Hey!" Thalia called. I wanted to kick her for interrupting me. "Dance, you guys! You look stupid just standing there!"

I fought the impulse to say, "Percy looks stupid doing anything anywhere."

Percy's eyes darted around the gym. I had to push back a little laugh at his nervousness. "Well?" I asked. He still looked confused and oblivious.

"Um," he said, shifting his weight from foot to foot, "Who should I ask?"

I rolled my eyes and introduced my fist to his stomach. He could be so stupid. "Me, Seaweed Brain."

"Oh," he said, a dazed look on his face, "Oh, right." Percy and I stepped onto the dance floor, and he awkwardly moved his hands around in the air, without a clue in the world where to put them. He looked away from me as he placed a hand on my waist and, impatient, I grabbed his other hand in mine. "I'm not going to bite," I said, resisting the urge to hit him over the head, "Honestly, Percy. Don't you guys have dances at your school?"

He blushed and smiled sheepishly, and I let out a light laugh. The expression on his face easily indicated that he hadn't. He wasn't the greatest dancer in the world either – I made a note of it. The two of us swayed around the dance floor, and I tried really hard not to wince each time he stepped on my toes or squeezed my waist a little too hard for comfort.

"What were you saying earlier?" Percy asked out of nowhere, "Are you having trouble at school or something?" I was just about to tell him to shut up, that it had nothing to do with him.

But then I changed my mind. "It's not that," I admitted, "It's my dad."

"Uh oh," he said, looking concerned. "I thought it was getting better with you two. Is it your step mom again?"

I sighed and looked at the floor. "He decided to move. Just when I was getting settled in New York, he took this stupid new job researching for a World War I book. In San Francisco."

"So he wants you to move out there with him?"

I frowned and stared at the wall behind Percy. "To the other side of the country. And half bloods can't live in San Francisco. He should know that."

"What?" Percy asked, looking confused, "You know. It's right there."

"Oh," he said, still looking confused. "So…you'll go back to living at camp or what?"

I opened and closed my mouth. I wanted to go with my father for the first time. We'd been getting along for the first time. Christine, my stepmother, didn't hate me as much. "It's more serious than that, Percy. I…I probably should tell you something." I wanted to go. But I didn't want to leave him. He was probably my best friend, after Thalia. But I…

I glanced up by the bleachers and stopped moving. "They're gone," I said in a morbid tone.

"What?" Percy asked, dropping his hands from my waist. The rush of cool air was uncomfortable, and I found myself missing his grip. He turned around and stared at the vacant bleachers.

"We have to get Thalia and Grover!" I said, turning around. Where the heck were those two idiots when you needed them? "Oh, where'd they dance off to? Come on!" I reached for Percy's hand but missed, and darted off into the crowd. When I turned around, he was gone. "That idiot…" I muttered to myself, "Well, I'll just have to yell at him for it later."


	37. The Satyr and the Dryad's Wedding

_A/N: Remember while reading this: "Illogical and Stupid" and "Canoodlus Interruptus" interlock in this little universe of mine. It might make sense to, if you are old enough, read CN before reading this chapter. If not, you should still be fine._

_Rated between K+ and T, but nothing gratuitous at all._

_This is published at a really weird time but I had to get something out ASAP – a couple people here at school are not being the kindest to me and I want to get back into fanfic where I know that people appreciate me. : )_

_Thank you to __wisdomgoddess26__ for this awesome idea!_

"Oh gods, Juniper," I said with a sigh, "You…You look beautiful."

The dryad blushed green and looked up at me. "You really think so? I mean, the ivory doesn't exactly go with my coloring, and –"

"Juniper," said her dryad maid of honor Maple, "You look exquisite. You couldn't look more beautiful, actually. Everything's going to be okay. It'll be perfect."

Juniper gave a lovely smile to the three of us bridesmaids. "Thanks, guys. I just…I'm so nervous!"

Aspen laid a hand on Juniper's shoulder. "Don't worry, Grover's probably freaking out just as much as you are. If he's anything with this wedding like his is normally, he'll be worried too."

Juniper shot us each a thankful look. "Probably. Have you heard from Percy yet Annabeth?"

"I'm not sure," I said, "I think I put my phone down somewhere…"

I dug through my pile of clothing. "Mother of Hades."

"What?" asked Juniper, worried.

I held up the phone. "Message 1 from Percy Jackson," I read out, "Hey, Annabeth, can you come help me out? Message 2 from Percy Jackson: Come here, now. Grover's spazzing out. Message 3 from Percy: Annabeth? Where are you? I need help! Message 4 from Percy: ANNABETH DELIA CHASE GET HERE NOW."

"Delia?" Juniper asked. I blushed.

"You are not allowed repeat that middle name to anyone," I said, pulling my hair over my shoulder so it wouldn't be ruined by running outside. "Percy isn't even supposed to know that. I'm going to go check on the numbskulls. You two can take care of Juniper?"

Aspen and Maple nodded.

"I'm fine," said the bride with a smile, "Just go make my husband-to-be chill out."

* * *

"I'm freaking out, man!"

Percy grabbed Grover by the shoulders. "Grover, relax, it's three hours before the wedding." Percy was trying his best to be the most worthy best man in creation, but when the groom was a nervous satyr with an odd desire to eat the wedding silverware, it wasn't the easiest thing ever.

Grover bleated nervously. "But…But…"

I gave him a reassuring hug. "It's going to be okay, Grover, Juniper told you herself that she wants the wedding to be like is small and romantic near her tree. That's all she wants," I laughed, "Well, that and you."

Percy nudged him in the ribs with his elbow. "Yeah," he said, looking mischievous, "Remember the wedding night, G-man."

Grover blushed a furious red. "That's…I…" He continued to spit out random syllables, and I glanced over to Percy, who gave me a knowing wink.

I began to blush as well. I knew exactly why Percy was winking at me, and it took all I had not to hit him with my pink kitten heel. The memory of the afternoon a few days before came back like an involuntary reflex – Percy and I in the hotel room, Thalia's impromptu interruption, and then the significantly more epic event in the elevator. I smiled in spite of myself and my head rose to meet Percy's. I felt the familiar pooling of desire in my stomach and forced it down, remembering exactly why we were here. Unfortunately, being a demigod made the hormones a little more powerful than they would be for a normal mortal. Percy and I never were able to figure it out, but whenever we were together it was as charged as if we had just been battling. It was kind of exhilarating, but really uncomfortable in these kinds of situations.

Grover looked between the two of us with one of those frightened expressions of his. "Did you two…? Oh wait," he covered his ears, "Holy Zeus, no, don't even tell me, oh gods, this is TOO MUCH FOR ME RIGHT NOW." He began pacing frantically. It would have been really funny if I didn't know that Grover was stressing out so much about the wedding. It struck me as odd – Juniper wasn't worrying much at all, but Grover was about to pee his tuxedo pants.

Percy, however, hadn't thought about Grover's worry and started to laugh. "Chill, Grover," he said with a carefree smile. "We're eighteen. And all Athena did was," he glanced over at me, and I was worried about what he was about to say, "Slap me around a little."

I couldn't stop the loud laughter from escaping my lips. I clapped my hand over my mouth. "Okay," I said, taking a deep breath, "No, not right now. You're getting normal, Grover. You have three hours. Percy," I said, turning to my boyfriend, "Do you have any tin cans?"

"Why in Hades would I have tin cans?"

"I don't know," I said, rolling my eyes, "You're the best man. You should have things that will help the groom."

"Sorry, I don't have any."

"Well go get some. Now."

Percy backed away from me. "Yes, ma'am," he said. After the years of fighting me, he'd finally learned to roll with it when I went into crisis control mode.

"Grover," I said, taking him by the shoulders, "Don't freak out. There is no reason to be freaking out. You know that, right?"

"Baa."

I rolled my eyes. "Wrong answer, Goaty McFuzzy Feet. You're marrying Juniper, who loves you more than anything. It's going to go fine. Percy's going to go fetch you some tin cans, we're going to make this wedding rule, and you're going to be okay."  
"BAA." I snapped my fingers to try and get his attention, but he just kept bleating nervously and pacing back and forth.

"You leave me no choice, Grover," I said with a sigh. "MUTTON," I said, taking Grover by the shoulders, "Mutton on a plate. Someone eating said mutton."

"What?" Grover said, the frightened look replaced with a look of despair. "Why…Mutton…" His eyes widened. "Oh. Oh I see what you did there."

I shrugged. "Hey, it got you to chill out, right?"

He nodded. "I guess so."

Percy sprinted in with Coke cans and Pepsi cans.

"Which one?" he asked, out of breath.

"Whoa now, hotshot, don't sweat off your tux."

He straightened and adjusted his tie. "Better?"

I nodded.

Percy turned back to his best friend. "Coke or Pepsi?"

Grover looked at him in disgust. "What kind of question is that? Coke, of course!"

* * *

We all knew our places from the rehearsal the night before – I was going to be paired with Nico, Maple with Percy, and Aspen was being paired with Myles, a satyr friend of Grover's from when they were small.

Juniper tapped me on the shoulder right before the flower girl, a sapling elm, walked out.

"You're okay that you're not walking with Percy, right?"

I turned to her. "Of course!" I said, "It's tradition, isn't it? Maid of honor with the best man."

Juniper smiled, looking relieved. "Okay, good, it's just I was worried you'd get jealous."

"Jealous?" I asked, "Me?"

Juniper nodded. "Well, with you and Rachel…"

I narrowed my eyes a little bit. "Different situation." The music began for little Elm to walk out. Juniper made a quiet noise like a gasp.

"Hey," I said, "Breathe. It's going wonderfully."

Juniper nodded. "I'm just…I can't remember the last time I was this excited and nervous."

"Annabeth!" whispered Nico, "Quit chatting and come on! We're walking out next."

I squeezed Juniper's hand. "It'll go wonderfully. Don't worry."

I stepped into place in front of Maple, and Percy tapped me on the shoulder. "Good luck, beautiful," he said as Nico and I took our first step. "Don't trip."

I managed to control the impulse to punch him.

We walked out into the ceremony, and I swear, the look on Grover's face when he saw Juniper was the most adorable thing I'd ever seen.

Percy and I made eye contact as the two kissed. We weren't anywhere close to the point of marriage, but something told me that we had a chance of getting there eventually.

As long as neither one of us got killed first.

* * *

"So," said Grover, easily more relaxed now that the wedding went off without a hitch, "How do you guys feel about a little dancing?"

"No," Percy and I said at the same time.

"No?" Grover asked, tilting his head to the side, "Why not?"

"I suck at dancing."

I nudged Percy in the ribs, "You've got that one right," I moved my hands to mime holding someone by the waist. "Where do I put my hands?" I said in a mocking tone.

"Why are you so mean to me?"

I shrugged. "I'm your girlfriend. It's what I do."

Grover rolled his eyes and gave the two of us a look. "You know, I kind of think I liked you two better back before you were dating."

"Why?" I asked, "Because Percy was dumber then?"

I cracked up at the look on Percy's face. "Why does everyone pick ME to make fun of?"

"You're an easy target," I said with a shrug.

Without another word, Percy took my hand. "Fine then," he said, looking determined, "You want to dance? We'll dance."

"I never said I wanted to –"

"Shut up and dance."

I was too stunned to do anything but follow him. He moved me like a paper doll, putting my right hand on his shoulder and grasping my left in his, and he began to move.

"Come on now, Wise Girl," he said with a light smirk. "I know I'm supposed to lead, but you have to at least move."

I followed as we danced around the floor. He was elegant, he was skilled, he was…Handsome as ever. I hated what it did to me whenever he was in a tuxedo – and this was only the second time I'd ever seen him like this. He looked older, more sophisticated, far too sure of himself for a nineteen year old, and it was all I could do not to press myself up against him and drag him back to the Poseidon cabin.

"When did you learn to dance?" I breathed.

He shrugged, wrapping the arm around my waist tighter, lightly pressing our bodies together, "Maybe it's just a skill I gained after being invincible?"

"Learning to dance has nothing to do with the River Styx," I said, still suspicious.

He leaned his forehead against mine, "Maybe you just make me do things I'd never imagine."

I barked out the loudest laugh I'd ever made. "GODS!" I shouted, trying to stifle it, "Wow, that was the cheesiest line you'd ever said! Man, Percy, seriously?"

"Fine then," he said, looking a little hurt.

"Sorry," I said, cupping his cheek in my hand, "I just…You know how I am about cheesy."

"Yeah," he said with a shrug, "I guess I'm just waiting for the day when you realize that I actually mean all of the stupid stuff that I say."

I smiled up at him, feeling the joy of just being with him and not having to worry about being sliced in half by an enemy.

"Rachel taught me," he said.

"Taught you what?" I asked, tracing the seaming of his tux.

"How to dance. Rachel and my mom, really. They were horribly embarrassed by my dancing at my mom's wedding, and the two of them wouldn't let me step on your feet again."

"Damn straight we wouldn't," said Rachel, stepping beside us. She looked radiant in a pale green dress that contrasted with her hair perfectly. "How's he doing so far?"

"Actually," I said, "Pretty well. Hasn't stepped on my feet at all."

"Aww!" she said, patting Percy on the cheek. He leaned away from it, making a face. "Our little dancing boy is growing up!" She put her hands on her hips and scoped out the rest of the makeshift dance floor, which was actually just the sword play area with all of the obstacles moved out of the way. "Now if I only had someone to dance with."

I looked over to the side, where Nico was leaning against a tree. "Go ask the emo kid," I said, gesturing in Nico's direction.

Rachel looked like she was about to yell at me, but then she shrugged. "You know, that may not be such a bad idea." She strutted over to Nico, who looked as if he wanted to do anything but dance.

Percy pulled me close again, and wrapped his hands around my waist.

"Nico will kill you, you know," he said.

"Yeah."

The two of us dancing for a little while. "So…" I said, cuddling into his chest, "What do you want to do later on?"

"Well," he said, leaning his head near my ear, "You know what they say the maid of honor and the best man."

"I'm just a bridesmaid, you goof," I said, lightly hitting him on the arm, "You know that."

He shrugged, and leaned his forehead against mine, "That's just my way of telling you my idea for after the wedding."

"Well you've got to do better than that," I said with a smirk.

He left go of my hands, a worrying grin on his face, "What, do you want me to proclaim my love for you over the loudspeaker?"

I stared at him in horror. "Oh, gods no!"

"Too cheesy?"

"Hell yes, too cheesy!" I said, laughing into his chest, "Besides, I already know how much you love me."

He buried his face in my hair and I stepped closer to him. "Who's being cheesy now?" he muttered. But I don't think he knew I heard him.


	38. Before He Disappeared

_**A/N: YOU WANT TO READ THIS NOTE. **_

_This chapter is based off of this line in The Lost Hero: "Then after the campfire, he – he kissed me good night, went back to his cabin, and in the morning, he was gone." Annabeth hesitates when she's saying what happened – and this is why._

_Thanks to all of you who suggested this idea!_

_Suggested song to listen to while reading: All I Need Is You – The Click Five_

_**Remember: this chapter is rated T. REMEMBER THAT.**_

_Read, review, and mainly enjoy!_

"Ugh," I said, tapping my foot, "Where is that idiot?" I stared out at the road, waiting for Paul's Prius to arrive. Percy told me he'd be driving this time, and I had begun to worry that he had hit something on the way here.

"Hey," said Nico, coming up behind me, "Are you okay?"

I leaned against Thalia's pine, fidgeting and biting my nails like there was no tomorrow. Nico slapped my hands away from my mouth. "Quit doing that," he said, looking at me disgusted, "It's gross."

"Sorry," I said, staring at the road. "Blame Percy. He's the one who is late."

"I always blame Percy. It's always his fault."

I smiled. "I knew there was a reason I liked you, kid. If you only actually hung out with us every once in a while."

He made a face. "I might if The Demon wasn't always there."

"Don't call Rachel The Demon," I said, rolling my eyes in his general direction, "She really hates it when you do that."

Nico gave me a stupid grin, and walked away. "Just for that, I think I'm going to go irritate her."

I sighed. "She'll kill you."

Nico shrugged. "Son of Hades, Annabeth. Death's my jam."

I heard an engine buzz in the distance.

"Wow, that's a goofy grin if I've ever seen one."

"Shut up, shorty."

Nico rolled his eyes and walked away, but I was too busy bouncing like an idiot to say goodbye. The familiar Prius drove up, and I smiled even bigger when I saw Percy walk out of the door.

"Annabeth!" he said, swinging his bag over his shoulder, "Hi, Wise Girl, I missed you!"

I walked over to him and gave him a hug. "Miss you too, Seaweed Brain."

Paul stepped out of the passenger side door. "Holy crap on a cracker, I'm surprised I didn't die."

"Does he really suck that bad at driving?" I asked as Paul leaned against the car. He did look a little green.

"I wasn't that bad!" said Percy, throwing his hands in the air. "Besides, it was the first time on a highway. The speed limit said sixty five and I just…Um…"

"What, added twenty?" I asked, folding my arms and smiling.

He gave me a look. "Oh, shut up."

"You're right, Annabeth," said Paul. "Now give me the keys, crazy, I need to get the car back. Your mom and I are going out to dinner."

"Okay," said Percy, looking as if he was about to explode. He tossed the keys to Paul, who stepped into the driver's seat. "See you and Mom in a little bit."

"Don't forget to call, kiddo."

Percy nodded. "I will. See you later!"

"You took too long to get here," I said, "I blew up from all the excitement."

He gave me a look. "Annabeth, you're a nerd."

"Your brain is full of kelp."

"Gods I've missed you."

I couldn't respond – I slammed me lips into his and felt my heart flip and somersault.

"Yeah," said Percy with a goofy smile, "So hi."

I blushed and pulled him into a hug, "Never have three exams in a week again. The world is boring without you messing it up for me."

"Aw," he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and kissing me on the top of the head, "That may just be the most romantic thing you have ever said to me!"

I shrugged and the two of us walked towards the Big House. "Oh, shush."

Hand in hand we walked to the Big House, but then the second we got into the door we couldn't resist each other again.

When we came up for air a couple minutes later, Drew was giving the two of us her annoying little look.

"Wow, guys," she said, smirking, "Get a room, will you?"

Percy stepped towards her, casually flipping his sword in his hand. "Get rid of that bump-it, then we'll talk," he said.

I stifled a laugh. "Drew, seriously, we haven't seen each other for two weeks – what would you expect?"

"There are kids here," she said, eyeing us.

"Says the girl who was almost on top of Will Solace three weeks ago in front of the entire camp…" I muttered.

She rolled her eyes and walked away without another word.

"Does she still hate everyone here?" Percy asked.

I nodded. "I came to visit last weekend to introduce myself to a new Athena camper, and I walked in MY cabin to find Drew yelling at Malcolm for getting dirt on her stupid high heels."

"Wow," said Percy, taking my hand. "And to think she's actually a good fighter…"

"I know, you'd think she'd worry about that stupid bump it falling out…"

"Never wear a bump it," said Percy horrified. "Your hair is good the way it is. NO SNOOKIE POOF."

"Never."

I leaned into his side and sighed. "Finally it's winter break. I almost had a brain aneurism, I'm not even kidding you."

"Miss me that much?" he asked, and I could practically hear the smirk.

"No," I said, punching him in the arm. "I just was annoyed that there was no one here I could punch."

He pulled me into his arms and gave me half a noogie and half a hug. "Sure, sure. You missed me."

I nodded. "Of course I did, loser."

* * *

"Okay, Campers," said Chiron. His face was joyful in the firelight. He, as well as everyone else here, was ecstatic that all was going well for the first time in ages. "It's time for all of you to head back to your cabins for bed. Remember, lights out by eleven. You guys can chat for another hour, but I want all of you asleep by eleven thirty."

As if on cue, a bunch of the younger campers started yawning. Percy and I exchanged a quick look – we weren't exactly going to be asleep for a while.

"Chop-chop," said Chiron with a clap of his hands. "Off to bed."

I gave Percy's hand a quick squeeze, and he leaned down to kiss me goodnight. "See you tomorrow, Annabeth," he said with an exaggerated wink.

I stifled a laugh. "Night, Seaweed Brain."

* * *

An hour and a half later, my hands trembling with anticipation, I bundled my hair up in my Yankee's cap. I stepped out of the bottom bunk and stepped over the creaky floor boards when I knew my siblings were all asleep and snuck out the window.

Perfect.

It wasn't difficult at all to strut across to Percy's cabin – no one was awake and even if they were, no one could see me.

Crawling in through the window, I saw Percy sitting on his bed and tapping his foot. His gaze was fixed on the door as if I would come running into it momentarily.

That's when I decided I'd have a little fun.

I walked up behind him, quiet as I could be, and walked to the other side of his bed. Holding my breath, I pressed my lips to the spot on his neck and he gasped in surprise.

"Annabeth…" he breathed, "What the heck are you doing?"

"Confusing you," I said, wrapping my arms around his chest and kissing him on the neck again. "I mean, it's what I'm good at."

As I ran my fingers down his arms, I felt him shiver a little bit. "Just…" he said, breathing heavily, "Take off that stupid hat, Annabeth, I want to see you."

"Try to find it," I said, stifling a giggle as he squeaked as I tickled that spot on his ribs.

Unfortunately, he kind of just reached behind himself and knocked my hat off with a lucky and blind wave of the hand.

"I win," he said with a grin on his face. "Now, where were we?"

I grinned and pressed my lips to his. "About here."

Somehow in the whole thrill of things, Percy and I ended up lying on his bed. He was on top of me, and I unexpectedly loved the feeling of his weight on top of me – solid, warm, and right.

Suddenly, I felt Percy's hands skim my stomach underneath my shirt, and I flinched. His hands were freezing.

Lightning fast, he ripped his hands away. "I'm sorry," he breathed, "I – I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"Then hold your hands over a radiator for a few years," I joked, tilting my head to catch his lips again. He looked confused.

"What?"

"What, what?"

He shifted so he was on his side next to me, and for a minute I was a little upset that he wasn't as close to me anymore. "I was…You flinched, so I thought…"

"You, um," I said, feeling myself blush, "You can if you want."

Percy's face turned as red as mine felt. "You're…You're sure?"

I nodded and, with a shaky breath, took his hand in mine. "Yes," I breathed as I placed his hand on the bottom of my shirt.

Percy rolled himself on top of me again, and his hand slowly crept up my shirt, and stopped right at the bottom of my bra. For a few moments I was lost in the kissing – my head still felt like it was spinning. After only three months, Percy had finally gotten the hang of kissing, and it was more than I could have expected.

However, his hand hovering on my ribcage was a little – OHMYGOD.

I felt myself blush furiously again at the moan that escaped my lips. The incredulous look on Percy's face made me feel even stupider. "Wha…Did I do that?" Percy asked, looking surprised.

Still red, I nodded. "Um, there was a spot…On the side of my ribs that felt…Um…"

"Here?" he asked, grazing his fingers against my skin. This time, since I was expecting it, I was able to slam my hand over my mouth to stifle the noise.

He smiled, looking pleased with himself. "Yup," he said, leaning his forehead against mine, "I have a feeling that's the right spot."

All I could do was nod. "Now, are you going to go up my shirt or what?" I asked. Percy stared at me. If I could have, I would have slapped myself. Where did THIS side of me come from?

"What is WITH you tonight?" he asked with a laugh, "You're like…Like…Like a little sex kitten tonight."

"Your fault," I said with a shrug, pulling his lips towards me.

His hands still cold, Percy nudged my shirt up so it was bunched around my neck. Since I wasn't exactly in the mood to eat cotton, I said, "Um, it's kind of…Uh…"

"Right," he said, smiling, "Should I just…?"

"I'll do it," I said, reaching it up and pulling it over my head. It was only then I realized how exposed I was. I wasn't that self conscious of my body, but I momentarily thought of the step I was taking right now with Percy.

But that was just it – this was Percy. He'd shared with me his Achilles spot. He was always there for me. The two of us, well, I wasn't sure if love was in the picture yet, but there was something here and –

And I was ready for this.

"I never would have expected purple lace from you, Annabeth," he said, threading his fingers through my hair. "It's a little girly."

"Well," I said, with a sudden burst of confidence, "If you don't like it, then maybe we should get rid of it."

WHAT WAS I SAYING?

The look on Percy's face was priceless, and the idiocy I felt after what I'd just said faded immediately. "I like taking-charge Annabeth a lot," he said, slamming his lips into mine.

With clumsy hands, he tried to reach behind my back to grab the clasp. I had a feeling he'd fail miserably from now until eternity with this certain endeavor, but to let him get a good attempt in without his pride getting hurt I lifted my back up to give him better access. His hands were shaking a little bit.

"I," he said, brows furrowing, "I can't get this stupid thing."

I laughed, and reached behind me to unhook it. "You'll learn eventually. We have these three weeks for you to learn."

His eyes lit up. "Three weeks of this," he whispered as he leaned in to kiss my neck, "Gods, Annabeth, I've missed you so much."

"Missed you – GODS."

"You really have a reaction to that spot," said Percy.

I nodded. "Yes."

He lifted himself up a little more, and reached for my bra. "We…If you don't want to, we don't have to."

"I want to."

His face broke the serious mold and he grinned. "Me too."

He reached the straps and slowly pulled them off, and an enamored look spread across his face as he dropped my bra to the floor.

For a moment he was silent, just staring, and I felt vulnerable and exposed. At that moment I realized how Percy must have felt whenever I accidentally brushed across his Achilles spot when we'd be walking.

All insecurities disappeared when he muttered, "You're beautiful, Annabeth," as he leaned down to kiss me. He pulled of his own shirt, and for a moment I felt a leap in my chest as I saw his abs. The feeling of our bodies pressed together was incomparable – and it felt right.

"I swear, Annabeth," Percy said after we came up for air, "I'll never…This is one thing I'm never going to forget."

I smiled up at him. "I'm glad I could make an impression."

He leaned down and kissed me again. He brushed his hand against that one spot on my ribs, and it took all my self control not to make a noise.

He smiled and cupped my cheek in his hand. "Looks like I made an impression too."

The night went by too fast. At two in the morning, I realized that I was falling asleep. If I wasn't in my bed in the morning, Percy and I would get in so much trouble I didn't even want to think about what would happen.

I pulled my shirt on over my head and gave Percy a hug. "I wish we could just freeze time," he muttered into my hair.

"Aw," I said, "Because you wish you could stay in this night forever?"

"Nah, I just don't want to clean my cabin tomorrow."

I punched him lightly in the stomach. "Oh, shut up."

He laughed, "I'm just kidding, you nerd."

I gave him a quick kiss. "I know."

He walked me out of his cabin, and our last kiss goodnight couldn't last long enough.

"See you tomorrow, Wise Girl," he said with a wave and a smile.

I waved back at him. "Goodnight, Seaweed Brain."

_A/N2: Kudos to people who catch the Big Bang Theory reference._

_Also, I'M SO SORRY THAT THIS TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE. EPICNESS HAPPENED (ie I was on MTV The Seven for the Chris Colfer show –insert spaz here – and kind of had no time to write)._

_To everyone who is complimenting me for my writing: I wish I could give you giant hugs and giant cakes and cookies and presents. I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH._


	39. Valentine's Surprise

_A/N: In regards to the last chapter, remember my Reunion chapters? Remember how Annabeth got Percy to remember her? DING DING DING! He did remember it – and all was better! Yay continuity!_

_All the oneshots in here (except for Unbreak You because it sucks) relate to each other and are canon with each other._

_Also, to WiseGirl747 – if you check out my story "A Halfblood Wedding: When The Gods Are Against You," that is a story from when Percy proposes to after their wedding, still in progress._

_Also, Valentine's Day for me is being renamed Forever Alone day. Therefore, FANFIC AHOY! Enjoy this Valentine's based story of way too much fluff and happiness and adorable babies! _

_This is rated T-ish just because, duh, it's a Valentine's Day story._

_Read, review, enjoy!_

"Good lord," said Percy, rubbing his temples, "Remind me why we taught her to talk again?"

I flopped down on the bed beside him, reveling in the feeling of the soft mattress beneath my back. "I don't know," I groaned, rolling over on top of him in an attempt to hug, "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"She never shuts up," said Percy wrapping an arm around my shoulders, "I knew any kid of ours would talk a lot, but mother of Zeus that girl's a chatter box."

I scoffed. "Maybe it was a mistake to name her after the muse of epic poetry."

Percy nodded. "Epic's got it right – every story of hers takes fifteen minutes to even start."

"Yesterday she took half an hour to tell me what cereal she had that morning. I POURED IT FOR HER."

Percy sighed heavily, "Well, she's asleep now. And usually when it gets to be nearly ten at night after we get her swimming for an entire day at the beach she's out like a light for a good ten hours."

I breathed deeply. "Gods, I hope so. Where's Clovis when you need him?"

"Working in an insomniac ward in Tennessee."

"I was being rhetorical, Perseus Bradley."

"Now you're being pretentious, Annabeth Delia."

I rolled over so I was staring up at him. "Don't mention my middle name if you want to survive."

He pulled me towards him, and I halfheartedly pushed him away.

"Now, now," he said, smiling. "You don't want to do that."

"No," I said, pressing up against him, "I really don't."

His lips pressed against mine, and I felt the fire that had first ignited with that kiss in Hephaestus' forges. It surprised me that, after being together for something like 14 years, and after four years of raising the little spitfire, we still liked each other, let alone were still in love.

Percy rolled on top of me, and –

"MOMMYYYYYYY!"

"Oh hot Hades…" muttered Percy, flopping over onto his back.

"MOMMY!"

"Your turn," said Percy, kissing me and shoving a pillow over his head.

I got out of bed and checked the clock. Nine fifty – she had been in bed for twenty minutes before she decided she couldn't sleep. Four year olds…

I stepped out of bed and opened the door to see my little daughter standing outside the door, peering up at me with those shining grey eyes just like mine. "Hi, baby."

"Hi Mommy. I can't sleep."

"Do you want me to tell you a story?" I asked her, picking her up. "And don't suck your thumb, Callie girl."

"But I want to."

"How about you rub Bun E's ears instead like Daddy suggested?"

My little girl looked down at the bunny stuffed animal she clutched. "Bun's ears are soft."

I nodded and kissed her on the head. "So how about we take you back to bed, okay honey?"

"Can I sleep in your bed tonight?" she asked, shoving her thumb back in her mouth.

"Only if you stop sucking your thumb."

She pulled her thumb out of her mouth and grinned up at me. "Bedtime!"

When we walked back into the room Percy and I shared, she climbed on top of him the second we got close enough to the bed to leap off.

"GUH!" shouted Percy as the small black haired girl slammed into his stomach.

"DADDY!" she shouted right in his ear. "I love you! Goodnight."

Unfortunately, Percy had sat up in shock the second that Callie had curled up with her blankie and Bun E and had pretty much fallen asleep.

"And she's asleep," he muttered. "How does she do that?"

I laughed quietly. "No clue, but I wish she did that every time."

I smiled. The perfect family that can only get more perfect. I smiled secretively, wondering when I'd been telling him the good news.

Percy looked at me in exhaustion. "We need a vacation," he muttered with a chuckle. "I love her and all, but honestly she's tuckering me out."

"Why don't we," I said, pulling the covers over our daughter, "rent a hotel room for Monday night?"

Percy looked over at me, near ecstatic. "Seriously? That's such a good idea."

I nodded. "You're mom's been begging to take her – and she hasn't been out of our care for a while. She needs to learn to be on her own for when she begins kindergarten."

Percy nodded. "There is a problem with one of us always being home with her."

The two of us looked down at our little daughter. "We'll let her stay with Mom for the night, and she can hang out with her," said Percy, giving the small girl a kiss on the forehead.

I smiled. "A day on our own…Our first in, what, two years? Three?"

Percy shrugged. "A while, I think. I can't be sure." He leaned over to kiss me. "But let's just sleep now – we'll call my mom tomorrow."

"Hopefully we'll be able to get a room before tomorrow," I muttered as I snuggled under the blankets and kissed my daughter on the cheek.

* * *

"So we were wondering if you would mind taking Callie for the –"

"YES!" said Mrs. Jackson enthusiastically. "Oh, yes, I'd love to! Paul and I didn't have plans for Valentine's Day – he actually has to work late tonight with some students on a production of Hamlet. When do you want to drop her off?"

I twisted the telephone cord in my hands. "Probably sometime around three in the afternoon? Is that okay with you?"

I could almost hear her nodding on the other end of the line. "Fantastic, I'll see you tomorrow at three then!" said Sally. "Give little Callie a big hug from me."

"Will do."

"Buh-bye then."

I hung up the phone and walked over to Percy's office where he was ardently working on some sort of project. I leaned against the doorframe. "Earth to demigod"

"What?" he asked, looking a little bedraggled. "What's up? You call my mom?"

"You're mom's got Callie, and the hotel has been taken care of. We're taking a break!"

Percy looked down at the massive pile of work needed to be done. "Thank Poseidon…"

I nodded. "So all we have is tonight and part of tomorrow, and then we're dropping Callie off and heading over to the hotel for a lovely evening."

Percy grinned at me, and pulled me into his laugh. "Two days off of work, alone, in a hotel room, together."

With each word he planted a kiss somewhere on me, sending shivers down my spine.

"Just you wait for the actual day," he said in response.

* * *

Two days later, the two of us were in the king sized bed. Percy's arm was around my waist, pulling me in tighter. "I love you, Wise Girl," he muttered into my hair. "This was quite the lovely Valentine's Day."

I nodded. "And the champagne and new laptop was quite the fancy touch."

Percy rolled over and folded his arms behind his head. "I did good?"

"You did WELL," I laughed, leaning on top of him and planting a firm kiss on his lips.

"Still correcting me, even in bed, fourteen years later."

I shrugged and he pulled me into his arms, the kisses growing deeper. "It's my job," I breathed.

An hour and a half later, Percy and I were half dozed off, curled up in the unfamiliar blankets, and I felt an absence. The bed was too big for two people.

"Percy," I whispered. "I miss Callie."

Percy rolled close to me again and pulled me into his arms. "Me too," he muttered into my hair. "I didn't really expect to," he said, wrapping his arms around my waist. I rolled over to face him. "I thought we'd be all caught up in each other and wouldn't even realize that it was a difference. But I really miss our little Water Baby."

"I'm still resentful that she likes swimming better than the little math games we gave her," I joked.

He smiled. "Well, she'll get into those things soon. I really miss her though."

"Well," I said, cuddling into his arms, "I suppose we have grown rather attached."

He laughed. "Well, it's only midnight," said Percy, kissing me on the forehead. "So let's just enjoy our time together until we go get her tomorrow

"Maybe Valentine's day isn't just about romance and passion," I said, pressing my lips to his neck, "Maybe it's about family, too."

Percy nodded and rolled over, pulling me on top of him. "Family," he muttered. "Yeah, that too. But this is nice."

"Speaking of family…" I muttered, unable to keep my secret any longer. I rolled off of him and sat up. "SURPRISE!"

Percy looked at me, confused. "Surprise…What?"

I stared at him, giving my signature, "are you freakin' kidding me," look. "Really."

He sat up and grinned at me. "What? Did you get me something for Valentine's Day?" He scrambled out of bed, pulling his boxers on as he ran to his jacket.

I giggled. "Um…Sort of."

"Cool!" he said, "Because I still have a little present for you – I was waiting to give this to you until we left, but if you're doing this now, then I want to give this to you." He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small box. He sat down on the bed in front of me. "Happy Valentine's Day, Wise Girl," he said as he opened the box.

A small blue pearl was nestled in a white gold loop, the chain thin as could be. It was simple. It was small.

It was perfect.

"Percy…" I breathed as I stared at the beautiful little necklace. "Percy, it's perfect."

He scooted next to me and pulled it out of the box. "You see," he said as he gently brushed my hair out of the way. It sent a shiver down my spine and he kissed my shoulder. "It's a pearl, like the ones we crushed on our first quest together. I thought you'd like the blue the best," he said, clasping the necklace, "It's your favorite color."

"It's gorgeous, Percy," I said. "However, you're kind of showing your Seaweed Brain side right now."

"What do you mean?" he asked, looking genuinely confused.

I laughed. "You're so obtuse, love. Family. Surprise. Make the connection."

"Why can't you just tell me?"

I leaned in and kissed him, wrapping my hand behind his head. "Because I can never just tell you the answer. You've got to figure it out on your own."

Percy laid down on the bed and propped his head up with his hand. "Can I have a hint?"

"You don't need a hint," I said. "Think Callie."

"Callie?" he asked. "Is Callie giving me the gift?"

"You idiot!" I said, moving closer to him and leaning my face in close. "I'm pregnant again!"

He leapt up so fast he slammed into my nose.

"Ow…" I muttered, "Am I bleeding?"

Percy shook his head. "No, but…Oh my gods! Another baby!" He took my shoulders, an excited look in his eye. "Callie's going to have a sister or a brother!"

When he pulled me into a hug and kissed the top of my forehead, I nodded. "Well, we both said that we'd always planned on two."

Percy nodded. "I can't wait for our baby boy!"

I gave him a look. "Percy, I'm a month in. We don't know the gender."

Percy shrugged and pulled me to him, laying a hand on my stomach. "Nope, it's a boy," he said. "I just know."

"How?"

Percy gave me this bizarre smirk and nodded. "Come on, Annabeth. It's me. I know everything."

I rolled my eyes and moved in to kiss him. "Sure you do, Percy," I said as I wrapped my arms around his neck, "Sure you do."

_A/N: BRB, choking on the amount of fluff hahaha :P Happy Valentine's/Forever Alone Day!_


	40. Guilt

_A/N: AHHH I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE. I had a bunch of stuff going on and people coming to visit and a lot of craziness and oodles of homework. However, here you are! I'm so sorry it's been a week since I've updated! I still love you all, I swear!_

_And thanks to all who favorite, alert or review – it makes my day each time a new one is in my email!_

_Read, review, enjoy!_

I wiped my eyes and hugged the pillow in front of me. I was staring straight ahead of me, not at the wall, not at the window. Just at nothing. He was gone. And he was never coming back. What a horrible way to start my senior year of high school.

I sniffed again, and felt a horrid sob build in my throat as the wave of grief washed over me again, choking me. Rachel walked over to me and pulled me into her arms. "Shh," she whispered into my hair. "Annabeth, you'll be okay. It'll be alright."

I stood up and glared at her. "No," I said, furiously wiping the tears from my eyes, "No, it's not going to be alright! He's gone – and he can't come back and I'm never going to get him back."

Rachel backed away from me and said, "Annabeth, I'm sorry, I know. But…You'll be stronger for this, you know he's a good person, he'll achieve Elysium, you know it."

I shook my head frantically. "But he's gone, I can't…He's gone!"

The two of us turned behind me when we heard a rapid knock on the door. It creaked open, and Percy's head popped in and he looked at me. His face immediately fell. "Annabeth, love…"

"He's gone!" I sobbed as I fell into his arms. "Gone. GONE."

Rachel muttered, "She's been like this for a while. I'm glad you finally got here."

"I ran as fast as I could," said Percy, sounding breathless. He put an arm around my waist and guided me to my bed, sitting me down between him and Rachel.

"Malcolm was a good fighter," said Percy into my hair, "He did what he could, Annabeth, and the hellhound just caught him off guard. I'm so sorry, love. I'm so sorry."

I calmed down as I rocked in Percy's arms, feeling the tears stop as Rachel held my hand and Percy planted light kisses on my head.

"He was my best friend in the Athena cabin," I sniffled. "He was the only one who liked architecture like me. He…He was the only one who was nice about Percy and me being together and," I sniffled, feeling pathetic and lame, "and he was my best friend."

Rachel squeezed my hand and Percy muttered something to her. "Annabeth," Rachel said quietly, "Do you want me to call your dad? He should be home soon, but –"

"Wait," said Percy, "You haven't called Mr. Chase yet?"

I shook my head. "I didn't want to bother him. This isn't –"

Percy sighed and shot Rachel a glare.

"What?" she asked, looking hurt. "What'd I do?"

"Just call Mr. Chase," said Percy, sounding exasperated. "He'll…He'll want to talk to Annabeth."

I shook my head. "No," I said, "No, I don't want to bother him, I'd be getting in the way."

Rachel and Percy shot me near identical looks that said something along the lines of shut-up-you-don't-know-what-you-are-saying-so-let-us-do-what-we-need-to.

I backed down immediately. It wouldn't bother my dad too much – he really would be heading home soon. It was five in the afternoon – not like he would be in the middle of dinner yet.

Rachel returned with the phone in her hand. "Yes, she's right here. She's…Okay, not great. But I think she should talk to you."

I leaned away from the phone. I didn't want to talk to anyone right then. I kind of just wanted to curl up in a ball in bed and sleep for a hundred years. Loss hit me so much harder after the war – the finality of it just hurt more now that I know how much I'd lost before it all.

"Annabeth," Percy whispered into my ear, "Please, sweetheart, talk to your dad for a little bit. You were supposed to call him today anyway."

I sniffled a little pathetically and took the phone. "Hi, Dad," I whispered.

"Annabeth, I'm so sorry," he said in such a warm tone I almost burst into tears again. "Please, if you need us, the four of us will fly up there this evening and we can all stay in a hotel and help you out with this. Anything you need. Or just me instead – I could use the new plane I had delivered, the air pressures good for flight and –" I shook my head, but my dad kept on talking.

"Annabeth, he can't see you shake your head," said Percy gently.

I blinked a couple of times, then said. "Oh…Right." I felt myself going red with embarrassment – I felt like a complete idiot.

"Don't worry about it," said Rachel with a small smile.

"Dad, you don't have to come up here," I said into the phone.

"I – what was that, Annabeth? You were speaking quietly. I'm old, honey, can't exactly hear as much as I used to."

"You don't have to come to New York. I think…I'm fine. Yeah. I'm good. I'm okay."

"You sure?" he asked. It was still odd for me to hear concern in my father's voice. When I was young I never heard it – probably because I'd never let myself – but now that I was older, I heard it often and I knew how worried he was for me, being a demigod and all.

"Yes, Dad. I mean, Percy, Rachel and a lot of my other camp friends are here. Katie Gardiner goes to my school as well, so I have her if I need her." I decided not to mention the fact that Percy sometimes slept over. Now was not the time.

He sighed into the receiver, and I worried that I'd said something wrong. "If you're sure, Annabeth. And if you change your mind – if you need me – call me immediately and we'll get up there as soon as we can, okay? I don't want you to be alone – this is a lot to handle."

I'd almost calmed down and forgotten why I was talking to him. Before the sobs could build up and spill over, I mumbled into the phone. "Okay, Dad, thanks. I've got to go. I'll," I felt my voice crack and the familiar prickle in my throat bubble up, "I'll call you if I need you."

"You don't sound too good, Annabeth, you sure you want to –"

"Talk to you later, Dad."

I hung up the phone and handed it to Rachel.

"Um," I said, feeling the wave of nausea that often accompanies my nerves well up, "Um, I think I need to be alone…"

Percy and Rachel exchanged a look, and at the same time said, "No."

Surprised, I looked up at the two of them. "No?" I asked, "Why no?"

"Because Lynn's not here until tomorrow and we're not leaving you on your own."

"Because you need us."

"Because you're in a glass case of emotion."

Percy and I gave Rachel the "are you on crack?" look.

"What?" she asked, "Anchorman. Come on. Really?"

We didn't say anything. Rachel threw her hands in the air. "Whatever. What I'm trying to say is that you need us right now and that we're not leaving until Lynn gets here. And that's final."

* * *

The first night Rachel slept in my dorm on the air mattress. Percy wasn't at school yet and his mother would have gone a little crazy to know that he was staying in my dorm for the night, so he instructed Rachel to never leave me alone.

Rachel, however, is smart, and understood that, "if you follow me into the bathroom I'll rip your head off," is a legitimate death threat from me.

"Um, Annabeth?" said Rachel, rocking back and forth on her chair. I turned around from the mirror where I was trying to run a brush through my hair. The attempt was futile – it was tangled and snarled and I knew that if I let go of the brush it would pretty much just stay where it was.

"What?" I mumbled.

"Percy just called. He's going to head over soon. I have to go to the orientation for the stupid art department which is full of annoying pretentious people like my dad, and so of course I have to dress up for it." Rachel glared down at her sneakers. "So I've got to go now."

I nodded. "I'll see you later, okay?"

She smiled at me. "Call me if you need anything, okay, Annabeth?"

I nodded again and hugged her. I managed a small wave as she walked out the door, and then collapsed on my bed, sobbing fully. Being alone sucked, but I needed it – I didn't want to have to deal with other people. I just needed to curl up on myself and feel the guilt eat away at me.

It was all my fault that Malcolm was dead.

* * *

Percy found me there half an hour later, curled up in sweatpants and an old Camp Half Blood tee shirt on my bed, crying my eyes out.

"Annabeth!" he said, whipping off my invisibility cap and coming to sit next to me. I shook my head, but he ignored me and pulled me into his arms anyway. "Shh, Annabeth, please, talk to me, or just…Say something so I know you're not about to break down completely."

"My fault," I muttered into his shirt through my tears. "My fault…And you…"

"What's that even mean, Wise Girl?" Percy asked. He looked worried. "Please…"

"It was supposed to be you!" I yelled, the secret pouring out of me. "I…It was supposed you who went to save that demigod. But I told Chiron that the two of us had a date that night to celebrate the beginning of the school year, and I –" the guilt slammed me in the chest as I fell back onto my bed, Percy catching me before I hit my head on the headboard. "I suggested Chiron send Malcolm, because he'd wanted to go save someone on his own, and I sent Malcolm to his death." Percy held me as I sobbed, the shame and loss washing over me like a freezing shower, and he whispered quiet words to me. "He died because of me," I muttered moments later, "I killed my best friend."

To my surprise, Percy took my shoulders and steadied me in front of him. "Annabeth Delia Chase, don't you dare say something like that."

"But it's –"

"No way in Hades is that true, love, and you know it. You're not allowed to say this about yourself, Annabeth. I swear, if it takes forever, I'll make you know that this isn't your fault."

I stared into his emerald eyes – Percy wasn't kidding.

"But," I said, dropping my gaze. "What if it was? We could – if you had gone…I would have come too…And if – if the two of us saved that little Apollo kid, we…We may have been able to…To take it out."

Percy gave me a small, sad smile and cupped my chin in his hand. "Annabeth," he muttered, brushing away some tears with his thumb. "You're the one who always tells me to live in the present, think about the future, and live with the past."

I nodded. "But I just…"

"Wise Girl," he said dropping his hand from my face and pulling me into his arms, "It can't be changed – and he's reached Elysium. You know that. As much as I wish we could, we can't change the past. And think of everything good that's happened with him – remember his legacy, what he did. Malcolm was second only to you in brains in that cabin, Annabeth. It got to the point where the two of you would have discussions about Pascal's triangle over dinner and even your other siblings began to get confused."

To my surprise, I felt a smile spread across my lips for the first time in a while. "We did have some odd discussions," I laughed, brushing a tear away from my face. "But how…All that's gone. I guess…When a bunch of horrible things happen at once, like during the Second Titan War, when multiple people died and hell was breaking loose, things seemed less hard to deal with. One bad thing happening in the midst of everything else being good…" I looked up at him, and with a start I realized there were some tears clinging to his lashes. "Well, it seems so much worse."

Percy nodded. "I get that. You become numb when everything hurts all at once. But the fact that we're actually feeling this is good for us – we're not completely damaged from the Titan war." He managed a crooked smile and sniffed, brushing a tear from his eye. "Annabeth, let's go to that dinner we were planning on having two nights ago."

"But classes start tomorrow!" I said, "We can't stay out late when classes start tomorrow! And my hair looks like a mess, and I haven't," I blushed, "Erm, really showered in two days, and –"

Percy leaned towards me and pecked me lightly on the nose. "Then go shower, you goof."

I smiled again, the feeling becoming more and more familiar. "Okay," I said, "If you insist."

"Where do you want to go, Wise Girl?" he asked.

"I don't know, you pick."

"Sounds good." Percy turned away from me and went on my computer to find a restaurant.

"Don't look over here," I said, pulling my shirt over my head. "I'm changing." I saw in the mirror that Percy was grinning like a Cheshire cat. "What's making you smirk like that, Seaweed Brain?" Percy stood up and walked behind me, wrapping his arms around my bare stomach. I was almost embarrassed, but I had my bra on and my shorts, so I wasn't too uncomfortable.

"I've seen it all before, love, no need to be nervous around me." He pressed a kiss into my hair. "Now go shower so we can go eat – I'm starving and I am not eating at your school's dining hall again."

I poked him and pulled my robe on, tying it tight. "And if Lynn walks in here, you've got to promise you're not going to mess with her again."

He pretended to pout. "But your roommate is so easily flustered."

"You're a dork."

"And you love it."

I shrugged. "I suppose I do love you. And, um," I sat down on my bed next to him, "Thanks for being here for me."

Percy tilted my chin up and gave me a chaste kiss that still electrified me down to my toes. "I'll always be here," he said, giving me a silly grin. "You can't get rid of me now."

I kissed him on the cheek and grabbed my towel. "Sounds good to me."


	41. Losing My Touch

_A/N: Class was cancelled. I'm feeling creative. I'm feeling an inkling to Percabeth things up._

_Sorry about the last one being so sad – this one is going to have quite a few laughs (I hope.) This is pure fluff and relationship development, set between Clueless and Kiss then Kill._

_Read, review, enjoy!_

"Rachel!" I said, "Rachel, stop him!" I dashed behind the Oracle, laughing hysterically. "He's going to attack me!"

Rachel skillfully dodged out of the way and I got a mouthful of water – not to mention completely drenched.

I glared at Percy. "That's not fair," I said, folding my arms over my chest. "I don't have any way to annoy you."

"You could hold out on him," said Connor with a devil's grin.

I rolled my eyes. "How would you know anything about that, Stoll?" I asked, "Seeing as you've never had a girlfriend. Missing Travis?"

He glared at me. "Okay, just because he got the guts to ask Katie out two days ago DOES NOT mean that he's left me on my own or anything."

Percy snorted. "Sure, Connor."

"I hate all of you."

"You love us," said Rachel, holding the bottoms of her jeans up. "Now excuse me while I change my pants. I do not enjoy being soaked like this."

"You're soaked?" I said, gesturing to my entire body. "You're soaked. Really."

Rachel shrugged. "Not my problem. Oh, and you're wearing a white shirt."

I promptly looked down and folded my arms across my chest. Of course I'm wearing the purple bra today.

OF COURSE.

Connor whistled. "Wow, Annabeth, nice –"

Percy turned to him and glared. I stepped up to Connor, my arms still folded over my chest, and said, "You look again, you die."

Connor threw his hands in the air. "Your fault for wearing that shirt!" he said, walking away. "Jeez, no one can take a joke in this place."

Percy and I watched Connor and Rachel walk away and I made sure my arms were firmly covering anything that could end badly.

"Why ARE you wearing that shirt, Wise Girl?" Percy asked with a smirk.

I decided that I didn't even want to know what he meant with the smirk. "…I ran out of Camp Half Blood shirts and pulled this one out of the drawer. Dry it's not see-through at all and I didn't expect a certain idiot Seaweed Brain to spray me with water today."

Percy shrugged. "Well, it amused me."

"Glad you're happy." I walked over to my cabin. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go change into some clothing that isn't dripping wet. Thank you and goodbye."

"You're weird."

"I'm weird and soaking wet thanks to you," I said, stepping into the Athena cabin. As I walked in the door I began to wonder how on earth that was an insult or a comeback. Apparently I was losing my touch – not a good thing.

Malcolm was the only one of my siblings in there. My best guess was that he was studying some of my blueprints for Olympus, checking them over to make sure they were sturdy. "Hey, Annabeth," he said with a little wave. "What happened to you?"

"Percy."

He smiled in comprehension. "Of course."

I stepped over to my bunk and pulled out another shirt from my drawer. All that was left was a skimpy blue and black striped tank top that Silena had given me for Christmas last year, and another white shirt that I only wore under other shirts. The white one was horrifyingly thin and see through. I sighed. "Of course."

I peeled off my soaking wet clothes, uncomfortable with the weird feeling. I put on one of my skin toned bras, just to make sure that nothing would happen if Percy decided to jet me with water again, and pulled on the tank top.

"I feel like Britney Spears…" I muttered, trying to figure out how to simultaneously pull the tank top lower down to the top of my shorts and pull it up so I wasn't showing excessive cleavage.

My attempt was failing. I made a mental note to do laundry as soon as possible.

I pushed the curtains back, and Malcolm laughed. "What?" I asked, "What's wrong?"

"You look incredibly uncomfortable in that," he said snickering. "We all know you're not one for tank tops."

"They make me feel over exposed…" I mumbled as I headed towards the door. "Don't laugh at me."

I closed the door and stepped out into the hot weather.

"That's a new shirt," said Percy. "I thought you hated tank tops."

"How does everyone know that?"

"Because you never wear them and get this look on your face if anyone puts them on."

I shrugged. "Over –"

"Exposed, I know," said Percy, taking my hand with a bemused smile. "I have to get something out of my cabin – want to help me find it?"

I knew what that meant. It was Percy speak for I-want-to-kiss-you-but-people-are-watching. It was sweet and all, but in reality everyone saw through it the first time he said it a week ago.

Regardless, I didn't mind.

Percy walked into his room and threw himself on the bed. His eyes closed languidly, and I realized at that moment how at ease he was now. Before the end of the Titan war, there was always something that kept him on edge or worried. His brow was furrowed or he just couldn't get comfortable. Now he just seemed relaxed all the time – even happy.

It made me smile even more whenever I remembered that I was part of the reason he was that way. "You know," I said, leaning up against the door frame, "I'm actually kind of surprised that you didn't ask me out before, I don't know, the two of us almost died in a fight to the death with a Titan king."

Percy gave me a look. "Hey, I gave you the opportunity to kiss me before I ran off to get myself killed. You just didn't take me up on it."

I snorted. "Yeah, right, Seaweed Brain," I said, collapsing onto his bed and kicking off my shoes. "And when was that, exactly?"

"…Right when I went to kick the hairy rump of the Minotaur."

I laughed. "Sure you did."

He sat up next to me, the look on his face confusion and – oddly enough – similar to the look of "wow you're slow" that I tend to give him. "I did, Wise Girl."

"You did?"

He nodded. "Uh huh."

I laughed and shook my head. "No, you didn't."

"Does this ring a bell?" he asked, rolling his eyes, "Ahem. 'Don't I get a kiss for luck? It's kind of a tradition, right'?"

I blinked at him. "You said that," I stated.

He nodded. "Yeah, Annabeth. I said that."

"And you were SERIOUS?" I asked, sitting up abruptly. The memory came flooding back to me – I thought he'd been joking around, trying to clear the tension by making an uncomfortable joke.

I'm an idiot.

"No, Annabeth," he said, voice dripping with the sarcasm that usually came out of my mouth, "I just thought it was an opportune time to try out some of my stand up. Seriously?"

"You were serious…" I said, dropping my head in my hand and smiling up at him sheepishly.

"Of course I was! Sheesh, now I get what it must be like for you when I'm completely missing something you're trying to tell me."

"What, like for the past year when I've been trying to get you to ask me out?"

His eyes narrowed and he playfully pushed my shoulder. "At least I did say something about it before we almost died. You just completely missed the fact that I actually wanted you to kiss me."

"Well…" I didn't know exactly what to say to that. "Maybe I didn't want to kiss you then," I said, sticking my tongue out at him like a nine year old.

He pulled me towards him by the waist and pressed his lips to mine. As usual, I got a little breathless when he did it. Since we had gotten together a week before, the kissing had gotten a little better, but it was still kind of sloppy.

But it was still fantastic.

"You sure want to kiss me now," he said.

"Oh, quit tooting your own horn, Mr. Horn Tooter."

"That sounds dirty."

"Your mom sounds dirty." Definitely losing my touch.

I leaned in to kiss him again, and all of a sudden I decided to try something. I opened my mouth slightly – and we slammed our teeth together.

I tried not to wince. "Um," I said, feeling with my tongue to make sure my teeth hadn't fallen out, "Ow."

Percy was wincing outright. "W-what exactly were you trying to do, Annabeth?" he asked in a careful tone.

"I'm not sure," I said, feeling myself blush red. "I…Um…I." I stared down at my hands, which were – out of my control, mind you – fiddling around with the bottom hem of my shirt, flipping around spastically.

Percy cleared his throat. "Annabeth?"

"."

He blinked. "Annabeth, you need to learn how to speak more slowly – no one can understand you."

I felt my face going bright red. "I suck at kissing."

Percy looked surprised, and then his face melted into a warm smile. "Annabeth, what are you even talking about?"

I shrugged. "I tried to French kiss you then almost knocked out your teeth," I muttered. "That is not the sign of a good kisser."

He took my hand and scooted closer to me, pressing a kiss on my cheek. "Wise Girl, we've been together for what, a week? Did you really expect us to be experts at kissing already?"

"You don't fail as hard as I do…" I muttered.

To my surprise, Percy laughed and pulled me into him, giving me a strong hug. "You're fine. Sheesh, when did you get so insecure?"

"When I realized that for once in my life I was wrong."

He snorted with laughter. "For once in your life. Okay. Sure."

"Hey!" I said, pushing him away. "I'm usually right."

"Look who's tooting their own horn now."

"There is not horn tootage, it's just a fact."

Percy gave me a kiss and smiled at me. "You're so weird. But don't worry about the kissing thing. Why would you be a good kisser right from the start?"

I shrugged. "I was hoping I would have natural talent."

Percy fell apart into hysterical laughter. "Gods, Annabeth, what goes on in your head…"

I smiled. "More than in yours."

He gave me a sheepish smile. "Touche."

"I still can't believe that I missed the fact that you were serious."

"Honestly?" Percy said, kissing me lightly. "Neither could I."


	42. The Explanation of Bethy

_A/N: Updates, updates, upDATES! Doing first thing this morning – you guys are my priority despite major exams and essays : P_

_I really wish there was a rating in between K+ and T, because that's what this story would be. From now on, I think I'll post the rating in the author's note and see how that goes – I have not had any complaints yet which is good._

_This is so ridiculously goofy, I love it._

_This is set right after Reunion: Part 2. They have not left yet for the quest to Greece. __**Rated between K+ and T.**_

_Read, review, but mostly enjoy!_

The day after Percy remembered me and we had our little reunion, we had to explain to everyone exactly why I was found in the Neptune cabin the next morning.

"I was cold in my tent and had to borrow blankets?"

"She needed to borrow my water powers to mop up a spilled water bottle?"

"I heard a noise in the cabin and had to go rescue him?"

Chiron looked between Percy and I and rolled his eyes. "You two can't possibly think I'm that stupid."

I shook my head. "Not stupid," I quipped, "We were hoping for naïve and…uh."

"Oblivious?" Percy suggested with a smile.

I returned the grin, which is a lie, since it hadn't really left since the moment he remembered me. "Oblivious, right."

The look Chiron gave us was one of both annoyance and amusement. "You two must think I'm a complete idiot, but I'm going to let you guys make up some story so I don't have to deal with knowing what's actually going on."

"I got into an argument with Piper and Rachel and needed a place to sleep."

"That works," said Chiron. "Actually, speaking of the two of them, they were quite worried to wake up and not find you next to them. I think it's them you need to answer to more than me."

I didn't even know how to respond to that. "I'm…We're…"

"Telling Rachel and Piper my memory's back," said Percy, taking my hand. "Come on, Wise Girl."

The nickname sent a jolt of joy through me. It was good to have him back.

We stepped over to the tent where Piper and Rachel sat, both with these smug little grins on their faces.

"Hey, lovebirds," said Rachel in a singsong tone. "Looks like somebody got their memory back."

"Yeah," said Piper curiously, "How'd you do it?"

I felt myself go fluorescent red. "Um…"

"Did you guys…?" The intonation in Rachel's voice made me blush harder. She laughed.

"NO!" Percy and I said together. "Not last night," I whispered, "And not ever."

"Well, not yet," said Percy in my ear, sending a shiver down my spine.

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain," I said, fighting back a smile and the desire to kiss him senseless.

"Good," said Rachel. "I don't want to be an aunt or anything."

"I hate you," I joked.

"Wait, memory," said Piper, "I'm taking it this is a tactic that would not work with Jason." The look on her face was so disappointed it was all I could do to not lie to her and tell her yes.

I shook my head. "Sorry, Pipes. I have to say, though, you're taking Reyna's reentry into the situation with a lot more grace than I think I would."

"Uh," said Percy, "About the whole…Can I talk to you for a moment?"

I nodded. "Sure, Perce, what's up?"

He took my hand and we walked over to the water. "Um…You know," he stared down at his hands, and water gathered in front of us, forming into random shapes. I was in awe of the skill he had over water – he had developed it even more since he'd been at the Roman camp. I would have to ask about it sometime soon.

"I know a lot of things," I said with a smile. "What this time?"

"The problem with Piper and Jason."

I nodded. "Yes, how the mist planted their relationship in her head, right."

"That, um…" he looked up at me, giving me the most pained look I'd seen on his in ages. "The mist did that with me too."

I felt a weird twist in my chest as he said that, but I ignored it fully. "W-what do you mean?"

"For the first two or three days I thought I was dating Gwen," he said, looking up at me. "I'm so sorry, Annabeth, the whole time it felt wrong, I swear. There was someone there in the back of my mind, and she was always wrong. You were always the one, Annabeth. Not her."

I shrugged. "Somehow, it's not actually freaking me out, to be completely honest. I'm not sure why. Did you guys kiss?" I asked, genuinely curious.

Percy opened and closed his mouth. He hung his head sadly. "Twice," he said, so dejected I wanted to give him a hug. "Until the second day when I woke up and bumped my back where my Achilles' spot is. It actually hurt, and somehow that's exactly when I realized something was wrong. I wasn't sure why, but I knew there was something off about me being in the Roman camp." He took his hands in mine. "I really hope you aren't mad, but I get it if you are."

I shook my head and gave his hands a squeeze. "I'm not mad. As long as she doesn't think you two are still together or anything."

Percy shrugged. "I don't know, if you've noticed she kind of hits on me every once in a while. I don't think she exactly gets what is going on at the moment."

"I see."

"I wish we could fix this," said Percy. "This stupid thing with Hera ruined everything."

"Not everything," I said, stepping closer to him and wrapping my arms around his waist. "We're still right where we began. And we've got each other now."

Percy kissed the top of my head. "That's true."

I took his hand and the two of us walked back to where Rachel and Piper were.

"Why do you two keep leaving?" Piper asked with a smirk. "Catching up on lost time?" She winked with so much exaggeration I let out a highly attractive snort of laughter.

"Wow, that was really pretty, Annabeth," said Rachel. "Graceful."

"Oh shut up."

"Or should we call you Bethy," said Piper, giving a sly grin to Percy.

"Oh, gods, can we not talk about that?" Percy asked, going red. "I have no idea why I thought I had game. Or why I thought I had any right to call you Bethy."

I laughed. "Dude, you were hitting on both me AND Rachel at the same time, and this was before you knew that you'd known us before. It was ridiculous."

"And where did you get the name Bethy from, anyway?"

Percy threw up his hands in surrender. "I have no idea. I just thought Annabeth was a really long name for some reason and thought I wanted to call you Bethy, because it was shorter."

"You're incredibly weird," said Piper. "Was he always this weird?"

"Weird? Yes. But he was never exactly Mr. Macho Ladies Man. That was a new development from the whole separation thing."

Piper nodded. "You know what it might be?" she said, tapping her finger on her chin. "He came to Camp Half Blood when he was twelve and probably pretty awkward and gawky, right? The awkward stages."

"Well, I wouldn't go with awkward and gawk –"

"Yeah, really awkward," I interrupted. "He always would blush if I came anywhere close to him."

"And then it took him a while to become The Percy Jackson we all know – he had to go through a lot to get where he was. That's what made him who he was."

"Piper," said Rachel, "Hurry it up, I have no idea where you're going with this."

"He woke up without memories, a buff, invincible, hot – sorry, Annabeth," Piper said when she realized what she said.

"No, it's objective, proceed," I said, waving it off with a smile. She wasn't wrong.

"Anyway, he's a really good looking guy without any memory of who he was or what he went through to get there. I'm a firm believer of people becoming who they are by their experiences. And he wasn't a bad guy at the Roman camp – he just looked good and knew he looked good, so he wanted to test out his chances with the two hot new girls in coming into the camp."

Rachel and I looked at each other. "Did Piper just describe us as the hot girls?" Rachel asked. "Awesome!"

The two of us high fived. "See, Percy?" I said, "You have the exact same taste in girls even when you're completely missing your memory."

Percy looked at Rachel and me funny. "Um, what kind of taste is that?"

Rachel grinned. "Good taste."

"You two are weird," said Percy, giving us a look. "What is wrong with the two of you?"

I shrugged. "I'm kind of giddy and have been for nearly twenty four hours, but that's just me."

"And I haven't slept without Annabeth making it impossible for me to do so for a couple weeks now," said Rachel rolling her eyes in my direction, "so I'm a little bit stupid right now."

Percy pulled me in for a tight hug, pressing a kiss on the top of my head. "I'm sorry I was such a loser when my memory was MIA."

"Well, it was a little bizarre. I mean, really," I laughed, "when before this had you ever been a ladies' man?" I kissed him on the nose. "You were never exactly good at the whole flirting thing before."

He frowned, but I could tell he was forcing back a smile. "Do you have to be so mean?"

I pouted and batted my eyelashes like an idiot. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Perseus, can you ever forgive me?" I said in a southern accent. "I'm just a little ol' girl! Named Bethy," I dropped the accent, "According to memory loss Percy."

Rachel scoffed. "Oh, gods, you're definitely back to normal, you two are being ridiculous again." She flexed her shoulder. "Ow, Oracles should not be forced to sleep on the ground."

"Stay in the Neptune cabin," said Percy, his face lighting up. "Seriously, it's just me in there. It's a big cabin – large enough for the three of you, Nico and Leo, definitely. Jason's in his own cabin now, why don't you just stay with me?"

"Chiron's going to throw a hissy fit," I mentioned.

"Which makes it all the more fun."


	43. Not Only On The Battle Field

_A/N: This is set a day or two after the previous chapter. I hope you guys like it!_

_This chapter is __**rated between K+ and T**__._

_Read, review, and first and foremost enjoy!_

"Gwendolyn, I –"

"Come on, Percy, you're more Roman than Greek, you know it. And don't you want a little Roman in your life? Annabeth's hot and all, sure, but do you really want some smart ass nerd on you all the time? I'm a daughter of Mars, baby. I can assure you that I don't just make it a battle on the field"

I froze in place once I heard this. Gwen hitting on Percy? Nothing new. Gwen hitting on Percy in the form of mocking me and calling me a nerd?

Percy is the ONLY one allowed to call me that.

Also, really? She was the one trying to make battlefield innuendoes? I was the only one who could pull that off.

I stepped back behind the edge of the cabin and listened intently to see how the conversation went.

"Look, Gwen, I have no idea what your problem with Annabeth is, but we're together. You do realize that, right? We've been together through hell and more than that – we're going on another quest, the two of us, and I know that she has my back and I have hers. Even though the two of us – you and me, I mean – had a thing for a while before I knew I was Greek or who I was, and even then when we tested to see exactly what it meant, I knew it was wrong. I was just trying…Trying to make things okay with myself." I heard his familiar sigh. "Annabeth knows about that, Gwen. She understands. And you need to know we're not exactly planning on breaking up any time soon, and I'm not dumping her for you. No matter how much you want to convince me that you're better than her."

"Oh, I can convince you alright."

Suddenly there came the sound that, to me, sounded like a mixture of a vacuum cleaner, someone slurping a slushee, and something popping. I peered out from behind the tree to see Percy with a look on his face like an octopus just shot ink into his mouth, and Gwen with a devilish little smile.

"See, babe?" she said, putting her hands on her hips. "Hot, wasn't it?"

"Gwen, you licked my teeth…That was disgusting."

Since Percy was too busy dry heaving, I stepped out in front of the two of them and folded my arms across my chest. "What do we have here, my little darlings?" I asked, trying to keep my anger in check. The look on Percy's face made me the exact opposite of worried about his intentions, so I wasn't angry at him. I was pissed at Gwen. And I wanted her to know it.

"Annabeth, I swear," said Percy, "That…Oh, gods, I don't even know what to call it, but that wasn't anything…Gods…" He looked up at me sheepishly. "Okay, how long have you been here?"

"Enough to be able to quote, 'but do you really want some smart ass nerd'." I said, glaring at Gwen. "Only Percy is allowed to call a nerd."

Gwen shrugged. "Then you heard that Percy and I had a thing before he knew he was Greek. How's that taste?"

I shrugged. "Better than your weird teeth kiss, I'm assuming." Percy stifled a chuckle and I suppressed a smile. Percy knew my fighting style, both verbal and physical, and he knew that when I got really mad my best insults came out.

"Look, Annabeth, just because your boyfriend wants to kiss me –"

"You kissed him, Gwen, I heard you. And then I heard him ask why you licked his teeth."

Gwen folding her arms and glared at me. "We were sort of together before you came here and ruined it, Chase," she said. "Why couldn't you have just let it alone?"

"Because keeping his memories from him would have been wrong."

Suddenly I saw something flash in her eyes, and I knew what was wrong. "Gwen, if you're having trouble coping with the whole memory thing, I'm sure Piper wouldn't mind talking –"

"No," said Gwen, the angry façade beginning to fade. "No, I don't have to talk to anyone."

"Gwen, I'm sorry," said Percy. "I just…I really wish this didn't have to happen. I wish the whole thing hadn't gone down like this."

"Down like what? I'm…It's not important." She looked between Percy and I, daring us to respond. Neither of us did. We just waited there for her to realize that she actually was hurting from the Mist's trick.

"I know it probably feels like I'm trying to steal your boyfriend, Gwen," I started softly after a few moments. "But it would never have been fair to either of you to pretend that, well, that the Mist was reality."

Gwen shrugged and said nothing for a few moments. "I guess it just hurts that what we had wasn't actually real," she muttered after a few moments. "And…I don't know, it's strange to think that the Mist was able to manipulate me into believing that you'd been here the whole time. That you were my boyfriend."

Percy smiled. "Well, if it hadn't been for you, Lupa would have killed me on first sight. You did pretty much save my life. And you know we'll always be good friends, Gwen."

She allowed herself a small smile. "Yeah, I know. It just…Sucks."

Percy nodded. "I know. I'm sorry. But Piper really does know what you're going through."

"She's pretty cool," I interjected. "And she's really funny."

Gwen shrugged and leaned up against a tree. "Sorry I kept trying to steal your boyfriend, Owl Girl."

I shrugged. "Well, I can see why," I said, shamelessly scoping out my boyfriend's body. He gave me a weird look, but I ignored it (as always.) "No hard feelings, as long as you don't kiss him again."

Her face brightened when she saw I was kidding around. "Deal," she said. "I'm going to go back…Back to my cabin now. I might go talk to Piper tomorrow."

I smiled at her. "Sounds good. I'm glad you're feeling better."

She waved as she left, and I looked up at Percy, exhaling.

"Well," I said. "I'm glad she agreed she'd never kiss you again. Because if she didn't I would have had to kill her."

"I don't doubt it."

"You shouldn't."

"I don't."

Percy pulled me into a tight hug. "I'm proud of you, Wise Girl," he said. "If this had been last year, you would have challenged her to a duel and would have sliced her head off."

I shrugged. "I guess chasing after you and going through everything made me realize how to choose my battles. And Gwen…That was about something else."

He gave me a kiss, and then took my hand. "Glad that's over," he muttered. "Let's go to dinner, shall we?"

* * *

Five and a half hours later, I put on my invisibility cap and whispered in Percy's ear, "Wake up."

I rolled out of the way as he sat up and nearly said, "WHAT?" far too loudly.

"Shut up!" I said, slamming my hand over his mouth before he could get it out. "They might be deep sleepers, but Rachel wakes up the second someone asks a question."

"Wh –"

"No questions," I said, glaring at him. "It triggers the Oracle. Now come with me."

I took his hand, mildly amused at the confused look on his face as I pulled him along to the side of the Neptune cabin, around the campfire, and over past the picnic tables.

"I'm going to –"

"Shh," I said, taking his hand. "I have an…idea."

He gave me a look. "Is this another one of those competitive things again? Because I swear that she couldn't kiss if her life depen –"

"Shut up," I said, pushing my hand over his mouth, "And let me take the lead."

I heard him swallow heavily, and I broke into laughter. "Come on, Seaweed Brain." I pulled his hand and the two of us walked in the direction of the sea. Luck for Percy –and for my plan – the Roman camp was on the water.

"Annabeth, where are we going?"

I pulled off my shorts and my top to reveal my bathing suit. "We're going swimming," I said, pressing my lips to his quickly. "Come on, Seaweed Brain, scared of the water?"

"I thought you said no questions!" he said. "Rachel will be –"

I broke into laughter. "Oh, you're so gullible, I love it. I made that up so you wouldn't ask where we were going until we got here."

He glared at me. "Why do you always make stuff up, I'm never thinking straight when I'm half asleep. And I'm not scared of the water," he muttered as he stepped towards the water, "Scared of you, more like." He hesitantly pulled off his shirt. I smirked – the Roman camp did wonders. He was good looking before, but now let's just say that now his muscles were freaking sculpted.

"You're ogling me again."

I shrugged. "And I'm in a tankini and you're not ogling me. We're a weird couple, aren't we?"

He nodded and took my hand. The two of us walked into the water, and once we were up to our chests I began to untie the top of my swimsuit.

"," whispered Percy, grasping where my hands were fumbling with the tie. He looked frantically around, making sure that no one was there, and nearly crushed my hands beneath his as he kept the tie together.

"Percy," I laughed, "Chill. It's midnight. No one's going to come out here. We're good."

He looked at me skeptically. "Is this because of what Gwen said about not just having it be a battle on the field?"

I shrugged. "Not really. I just have missed you so much in the past six months," I stepped towards him and wrapped my arms around his neck. "And we never get a moment alone since the Neptune cabin's been opened up as a place for us Greek kids to stay. And we've got the water."

"What if someone notices we're gone?"

I smiled. "Talked to Rachel. She's going to cover for us."

"Why do you always involve Rachel?"

"Because she's awesome."

"You two should never have been allowed to become friends."

I shrugged. "What can I say, we get along well."

I pulled him close to me and the two of us began kissing. I was not going to have anything go farther than just the bathing suit top coming off, seeing as in a week or less we would have to venture off to Greece to save the world again, but the lack of a bathing suit top was a reunion enough.

My best estimate would be that it was an hour later that the two of us froze when we heard, "Annabeth? Percy? Are you out here?"

"Your top!" whispered Percy as I dove underwater. Somehow it had floated off into the distance while we were kissing, and I immediately began to feel like an idiot. After a few moments searching with my hands underwater, I popped back up again.

"Is it anywhere?" Percy hissed, only his head above the water.

"OF COURSE IT'S SOMEWHERE," I shouted in a whisper, "I JUST CAN'T FIND IT."

"No need to get snippy, sheesh," he muttered.

"No time to argue," I said, "Who's calling?"

"Who else?" asked Percy, sounding annoyed.

"Nico?" I asked, feeling around with my feet for my stupid sparkly top.

"Nico."

"Percy?" called the nearly thirteen year old. "Annabeth? You here?"

"Aw, Hades," I muttered. "Percy, can't you just use your currents to find the stupid thing? It's a dark purple bathing suit top, it's not like it's usually floating on its own in the water."

"Actually, you'd be surprised what you can find in –"

"SHUT UP AND FIND MY TOP," I said.

A little too loud.

The small figure on the shore looked over at us, and I exchanged a quick glance with Percy and dunked myself under the water.

I couldn't see anything under there, but soon I realized that something was bumping my arm. Wincing at the stinging salt, I opened my eyes to see the purple beaded fabric that was my tankini top. I hastily pulled the bottom part over my head and knotted the halter as quick as I could. I popped to the surface just to hear Percy say, "No, she yelled, 'find my pop,' not find my top."

Great cover, genius.

"Annabeth would never say 'pop,'" called Nico. "Oh, hi, Annabeth."

I gave him a nod, and whispered to Percy. "Really. Find my pop. Because that would make sense. I totally put A CAN OF PEPSI in the water."

"Well, you're more a Coke girl –"

I fought back a laugh. "You're such a dork."

He shrugged. "Yeah, and you're a nerd."

"Can you guys, like, stop impregnating each other with your eyes and come over here?" said Nico, looking ill. "Chiron sent me and Rachel to find the two of you guys, and I'd really appreciate not witnessing an illicit love fest."

Percy pushed the two of us forward with a well balanced wave that both delivered us to the shore and soaked Nico from head to toe.

"I hate both of you," said the son of Hades as he glared at us. "Honestly, you two are horrible."

"Hate us more than Rachel?"

"Speak of the devil and she will appear," said Rachel as she tiptoed through the woods. "Oh, Nico, you found them, good."

"No thanks to you, Dare," muttered Nico. He rolled his eyes.

"He just loves me so much," said Rachel, pulling Nico into a hug as he swatted at her trying to push her off. "He just doesn't know it yet."

_A/N2: I LOVE NICO. AND RACHEL. AND SO MANY RICO UNDERTONES. _


	44. Ivy

_A/N: I'm SO sorry it's taken so long to update! However, I hope this makes up for the wait – it was written fast but I think the idea works._

_I'm on Spring Break right now, so I hope I can get a bunch of updates on various stories this week. I'm crossing my fingers!_

_Thank you SO MUCH for all the reviews! I'm so close to 500 reviews – it's crazy! I love you guys!_

_Read, review, enjoy, now on with the show!_

"I don't have any idea where this girl is," said Percy as we trekked through the mud. Luckily he'd worn hiking boots, but I'd been called the second my seventh period senior Calculus class was over, so my Converse were taking one hell of a beating.

"Neither do I," I muttered, shaking off some mud. "And to think that I thought April was the perfect time to start wearing my favorite sneakers."

Percy wiggled his foot in front of himself. "Good thing about being a dude. Your shoes don't exactly matter."

"I'm not a shoe freak," I said, trying to avoid a puddle, "I just really like these – OH, AWESOME," I said sarcastically. "I just went up to my knee in mud. Fan-freaking-tastic."

Percy turned around and gave me a sympathetic look. "Ooh, that's not good. Need help?"

I smiled. "No, Perseus, I'd like to chill out in mud for a few hours."

He lightly poked me and I wobbled, falling backwards until he caught me. "Hah," he said, planting a little kiss on my cheek from behind me. "Now, if I were you, I would not be sarcastic and rude to the person who determines whether you ruin your clothes."

I folded my arms indignantly. "How do you always get me in situations where you can make me do anything you want?" I asked.

Percy raised his eyebrow and the look on his face worried me. He began wiggling his eyesbrows, and then it hit me. "OH COME ON!" I said, pushing his arms away from me. "That's not what I meant and you know it."

He shrugged with a smug little grin on his face. "You're adorable, you know that?"

"Aw," I said, not expecting the compliment, "Th –"

"Any time there's an available 'that's what she said' you completely miss it."

I glared at him. "Just get me out of this hole." I swung my fist at him when he made a stupid face. "AND NO I WILL NOT COMMENT ON THE POSSIBLE INNUENDO YOU COULD INTERPRET."

"As you wish, Princess Annabeth," he said with a smirk. "Now let's get you out of here." The next few moments consisted of the two of us peering around where I was trapped, trying to figure out exactly why my leg plunged into the mud. My best theory was that I veered a little too far right into a more boggy part of the path, his was that Gaea was trying to kick our butts again. I preferred to think my idea – another all-out war was not something I wanted to deal with right at the moment.

"I think – wait – hold your arm right – and then, UMPH!" Percy had looped his arms around my waist and hoisted me out of the puddle. He fell backwards on his butt, and I landed on his lap.

"Thanks, Kelp Head," I laughed, standing up. "Good thing I landed on something soft!"

"Ugh," he said in response, "Yeah, and now my rear is coated in mud. Fabulous."

I stifled a giggle and extended my hand to help him up. "Stand up, Percy."

He took my hand and stood. "Oh, Hades," he muttered. "Look at my butt!" He pirouetted, trying to look at the dirt covering the seat of his pants.

"I often do," I quipped, "however right now me checking you out is not exactly the ideal situation. We have to find her."

"You check me out?" Percy asked with a smug grin on his face.

I playfully batted his arm. "Oh, shut up."

He kissed me on the cheek. "Now, now, enough of you trying to seduce me, we have to go find her. Ivy, right?"

I scoffed. "Seduce you, right. Whatever. But my best guess for Ivy would be a daughter of Demeter, but from Chiron's description she's survived on her own for a while – got in a lot of fights with kids."

"So she's likely Ares or Athena?" he asked, pushing apart some reeds.

I nodded. "And also, why exactly isn't she in, I don't know, a house or something?"

"Ran away," said Percy. "She's been on her own for a while now – Chiron only heard about her because some dryads were chatting and he overheard them. Apparently she'd been hacking apart some of their brethren for firewood."

I winced. "Yeah, never mind. Definitely not Demeter." The two of us walked in silence until we came upon a clearing a little bit ahead. One hundred feet away from us we saw what looked like a small eleven year old girl warding off a hellhound with what looked like the contents of her backpack.

"Is she setting pencils on fire and hurling them at the hellhound?" I asked Percy as the two of us ran over to where she is. I was impressed.

"Looks like it," said Percy. "Hey, big guy!" he shouted, drawing Riptide and uncapping it in a practiced motion. "Come here, ugly, leave the preteen alone!"

"I can handle this!" shouted Ivy in a strong voice that didn't match her diminutive size.

"Hi, Ivy!" I said, running towards her. "I'm Annabeth, that's Percy, we're here to help you!"

"How do you know who I am?" she asked, dropping the flaming pencil in surprise.

"I've got my ways," I said. The look on her face worried me. "Hey, look, I – WATCH OUT!" I shouted. Percy had been knocked to the side by the hellhound, and, although he'd done a good job leading it away from the two of us, it was now making its way back to Ivy and me, darting towards us with startling speed.

"Ivy, catch!" I shouted, tossing the dagger I'd had strapped to my ankle over to her. With skilled coordination, she snatched it out of the air, and pushed it straight into a hellhound's chest, dissolving it instantly.

"Did I just kill that thing?" she asked, sounding shocked.

"Yeah," said Percy. "Good job. Let's hope your one of our siblings, you're awesome."

Ivy smiled. "Thanks!" she said, stepping towards us. "Are they all gone?" she asked. "Because that was the only one I saw – I'd been fighting it off with my mechanical pencils for the past five minutes and sprayed it in the eye with a bunch of hair spray."

Percy and I exchanged a look. "This girl's going to get along well with Rachel," I said with a laugh.

"Hello?" Ivy asked. "Um can I get an explanation first?"

"I'm Annabeth," I said. "This is Percy."

"We went through that already, yes," she said, folding her arms.

"Just like you, Annabeth," commented Percy. "Sarcasm as the first language."

I refused to dignify it with a response.

"Have you read the Greek myths?" I asked. "About Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Athena, all of the gods and monsters?"

"Yeah," said Ivy. "I went to a weird school. We did mythology instead of math."

Percy and I exchanged a look. "Well," I said, "what would you say if I told you that those – the myths, the stories, the legends – if I told you they were real?"

"I'd probably say something along the lines of 'well that explains a lot.'"

"They're real."

"Well that explains a lot."

Percy and I exchanged another look. "She's got to be your sister," said Percy. "No one else on this planet is anywhere near that sarcastic."

"So," Ivy asked. "The Greek gods are real. What's that have to do with me?"

Percy always liked to take the reins at this point, so I let him speak. "One of your parents is a Greek god," he began, a practiced speech, "which makes you a demigod or, a half blood. You are half mortal and half god – which means you've got some pretty cool powers most likely."

Ivy smiled at this. "Well, it's…Kind of unbelievable. But the fact that I just stabbed something that looked like a demonic black lab without any of the cute and one hundred times the drool, I feel like I shouldn't doubt much anymore."

I nodded. "Doubting is going to pretty much leave your vocabulary."

"So I'm a demigod," she says, "Does this mean you're going to bring me home or something?"

Percy shook his head. "Actually, we're going to bring you to Camp Half Blood to meet some other kids like you."

Ivy looked at us skeptically. "You're not kidnapping me, right?"

"Nope," I said. "Kidnapping is not what we're doing. If you want us we can Iris Message Chiron, have him explain things better."

Ivy looked between the two of us for a few moments, then sighed. "Well, I've usually got a pretty good read on people – I don't think either of you guys are planning on killing me. And if you try it, I'm not against pulling out some more pencils and staking you."

Percy and I nodded. "Fair enough."

The three of us began packing what little possessions Ivy had into the two bags she had when suddenly I head snarling.

"Oh, holy halibut," Percy said, rolling his eyes. "Are they seriously –"

"Ivy," I said, interrupting Percy, "do you still have that dagger I tossed you a few moments ago?"

Worry was painted across her face as she nodded.

"Hold onto it. You might need it soon."

As soon as I finished the sentence, too many demons to count crawled out of the bog in front of us. Ivy stepped behind me, her fist balling in the bottom of my shirt. I couldn't blame her – she probably had no idea they'd send more people after her.

"Ivy," I whispered, "Percy and I are going to try to take care of this, but prepare yourself – you might need to help us out or defend yourself. You okay?"

"Yes," she squeaked in such a small voice I barely heard her.

Percy on my left turned to me. "Ready?" he asked with a grin.

I nodded. "I'll beat you here, Gimli."

"Nah, Legolas," he said, the smile turning into a smirk. "Gimli's got this."

"Really? Lord of the Rings? Now?" Ivy asked, the fear masked with sarcasm.

Definitely my sister or Percy's.

"GO!" shouted Percy. Ivy took a few steps back, letting go of my shirt, and from then I just hoped she was keeping herself safe.

I ran up to a hell hound, serpentine running so it would get confused, then dove beneath it and plunged my knife into its chest, feeling it dissolve above me.

Percy on my side was dueling with a telkhine that was weirdly proficient with a blade, and I would have stepped in, but another hellhound stepped up behind me. I spun just in time, piercing the roof of its mouth with my blade.

The battle continued for a few more moments, more and more hellhounds and sea demons coming from every edge of the forest. "Why are they so determined to get Ivy?" I shouted over the commotion, "She must be one of the big three!"

"The thought crossed my mind," said Percy. "But then where would she have gotten all the sarcasm – Ivy, look –"

Ivy didn't need warning though. She thrust the dagger into the chest of the telkhine with a dangerous look on her face.

"Did – did I do it right that time?" she asked shakily.

"Yes," I said, battling with another, more skilled, demon, "You did, and – "

"ANNABETH, WATCH OUT!" shouted Percy. He dove over to where I was standing just as I saw a shadow appear above my head. He tackled both me and the telkhine to the ground as stabbed upwards at the massive beast. My knife stabbed the sea demon and Percy abruptly fell on top of me as it dissolved.

"Ow," I grunted in a way that was probably incredibly attractive.

"Hey, do you want to go prom with me?" Percy asked, standing up and taking on a hellhound.

As I began a battle with another one of the massive dogs, it took a moment to sink in. "What?" I asked, confused.

"Prom. With me. At my school in a month. Be my date, Wise Girl?" The smirk on his face was completely stupid and so Percy that I wanted to punch him and kiss him at the same time.

"REALLY?" I shout, kicking the hellhound in the chest and throwing myself out of the way. "REALLY?"

"I couldn't figure out – DUCK!" he yelled back as he threw his dagger at the telkhine heading towards Ivy. "I couldn't figure out when better to ask you!" he said.

I rolled my eyes as I ran towards another hellhound and stabbed it, and it disappeared beneath my knife. I spun my knife in my hands and stuck it back into its sheath. "Of all the times you plan on asking me to go to your prom," I mutter, "and you decide to do it when we're trying to save another halfblood. Lovely."

Percy shrugged. "Hey, it was dramatic, right?"

"You stabbed a hellhound that was about to rip out my throat, tackled me, and then asked me to prom! How is that anything but loony?"

"No one else will have a story like that," he said as he nonchalantly turned around, briefly battled with the last hellhound, and killed it. "It's original."

"Well you've got that right," I said. "But really, in the middle of trying to save a demigod?"

He shrugged and took my hand. "Yeah. So what do you say, Wise Girl? Be my date to prom?"

I couldn't do anything but smile and laugh. I'd been waiting for him to ask for somewhere around a month now. "Yes, Seaweed Brain," I said, planting a small kiss on his lips. "I'll go to prom with you."

"Not to interrupt," said Ivy brusquely, "But can I have some explanation before the two of you smooch each other's brains out?" The sarcastic tone startled Percy and I each time she brought it out, and we exchanged a glance.

"You know, she reminds me a lot of Nico," muttered Percy.

I nodded. "Big Three baby?"

"Big Three baby."

Ivy threw her hands in the air. "We we get to camp there better be someone who's better at explaining things. Because all you two seem to be good at is arguing and making out."

"Definitely Hades."


	45. Percy's Senior Prom

_A/N: First of all, sorry about the wait! But do remember that all I promised was a chapter of SOMETHING a week. If it bugs you that I'm doing Glee writing, I am sorry that you feel that way, but I really do want to broaden my writing. But I don't plan on stopping this story – this story's like my baby! No abandoning this, nosireebob. Also, this site was failing miserably for like a million years. I had this ready a while ago, but it didn't post until now._

_Most important – I GOT OVER 500 REVIEWS. I LOVE YOU GUYS SO FREAKING MUCH. Seriously, I don't think I can properly describe how much I love reviews. You people rock_

_Anywhosums, this is after the previous chapter – Percy's senior prom._

_Finally, thank you SO MUCH to PhilsPhanatic26 for telling me how to fix this. If you're reading this, you can give me ANY plotline related to PJO or Glee or Harry Potter, and I will write it for you. Seriously, you saved my butt, my friend. HUGS!_

_This has been a uselessly long author's note. As always, read, review, enjoy!_

"Oh, Annabeth," Rachel breathed. "You're…Wow, how the hell did Piper do that?"

Piper walked in the room and leaned against the door frame. "Hey, I never said I didn't have style or didn't know how to do my hair. The fact that I don't just means I'm lazy."

I laughed, and raised my hand to touch my newly done hair. Like a flash, Piper darted over to me and slapped my hand. "DON'T. TOUCH," she said with a truly frightening expression.

Immediately I dropped my hand and whimpered, "Yes, sir."

"I think you broke her," said Rachel with a smirk.  
"Yeah, well she's going to break Percy when he sees her," said Piper, admiring her handiwork. "She looks beautiful."

"Not like last year though."

"Oh, gods, last year…Annabeth nearly died."

"Can we please stop talking about me like I'm not right here?" I asked, resisting the urge to throw something.

"Sorry," the two of them said with a shrug.

"Can I see myself now?" I asked, the suspense nearly killing me.

Piper sighed like it was the most difficult decision. "Fine," she said. "Here."

I gasped as I took the mirror. I looked like me – but…Better.

My hair was braided at a side part, two little French braids curling along my hairline that were pinned back and fell into my natural curls behind my ears. For once, there was no frizz in my hair – something I never would have expected in my life. What really shocked me was the makeup.

It wasn't too much – it just made my eyes…Better. I smiled up at my two friends. "This…Thank you guys. I look great."

The two of them exchanged a look and dashed at me, giving me a massive hug. They were both careful not to damage Piper's masterpiece, but I managed to hug the two of them back just right.

"Now let's get you into that dress, Miss Thang," said Rachel, "I'm glad at least one of us is going to prom."

I shrugged. "I still say you should ask Leo if he can take you." The face Rachel made was absolutely priceless, to the point where Piper was clutching her stomach laughing so hard.

"No," said Rachel, shaking her head, "No way in hell. He wants to ask me, he can. I'm not asking anyone."

I tilted my head to the side. "But what about that lovely dress you bought just in case –"

"I hate you," said Rachel with a smirk.

"No, you love me. Admit it."

"Go get into that dress."

"Fine. I will."

"Fine. Do."

"RACHEL!" shouted a far too familiar voice, "Rachel, where are you, did you steal my – oh."

"Hi, Nico," said Rachel. "I thought I heard your mellow voice ringing through the hallways. What do you need?"

"You stole my laptop again," said Nico, looking extremely angry.

Rachel rolled her eyes, her demeanor immediately morphing into who she is around the just barely fifteen year old. "Why, did you think I was reading your Harry Potter fanfiction again?"

Nico's eyes darted over to Piper, whose eyebrows had silently lifted. Those who knew her well knew this meant she was trying not to laugh, but Nico just shook his head. "Wha-? No, shut up, Rach, seriously, where's my laptop? Quit stealing it. And I do not write fan fiction!"

"Did you check in your bed?" she asked.

"Well – oh, crap."

"I didn't steal it after we were watching Lost last night, you idiot. You just fell asleep and we left it in the bed with you."

"Oh," said Nico, a blush creeping up his face. "Right. I knew that."

"Quit assuming I steal everything," said Rachel. "Just because I took your little blankie as a joke that one time –"

His eyes darting over to Piper again, he said, "Rachel, shut up!" He stormed out of the Aphrodite cabin angrily, muttering something about stupid Oracles, and Piper, Rachel and I finally burst into laughter as the door slammed.

"God, he's so freaking in love with you, Pipes!" I said, trying to remember how to breathe again.

"Yeah," said Rachel, running a hand through her curly hair, "He wants you, Piper."

"YOU WERE IN HIS CABIN LAST NIGHT?" Piper asked once she caught her breath.

Rachel went bright red. "L-Leo, Nico and I were watching Lost. SHUT UP." She started laughing again, trying to stop. "Quit looking at me like that. QUIT IT!"

"You should have him come our prom," I said, trying to see if she could possibly get more red.

"No!" she said, flustered, "Besides, we're all going to Emily's anti-prom. NO."

Piper and I grinned as Rachel tried to get less red, and they helped me into white and black dress that I had chosen for Percy's prom. For my own, I'd decided to bail. Percy and I were planning on going to my friend Emily's anti-prom party instead.

"Do you want the lacing tight?" Rachel asked from behind me, "Or loose?"

"Um, I don't want to have it fall off," I said, "Tight is probably a good – OW!"

It felt like Rachel had shoved her knee into my back as she grabbed one of the laces and Piper grabbed the other.

"Mother of Hades!" I shouted, coughing slightly. "I said tight, not rib cr-crushing. Ow!"

"Sorry!" said Rachel as she removed her knee from my back. "But it…It looks really good." I could almost hear the apologetic smile in her voice.

"Well, thank you," I said, "For the pain. But could one of you just tie it – LOOSELY, THIS TIME, I DON'T WANT TO DIE – and then I'll be ready." Piper tied the dress for me and positioned my hair so it draped across one shoulder. I shot the two of them smiles. "Thanks for coming all the way here with me to do this, guys," I said. "I really…Thanks."

"Hey," said Rachel, "I live near here. Piper's school is five minutes away. It's no big deal."

"And you know I enjoy it when you let me make you look like a girl."

I gave her a look, but she'd known me long enough that she just brushed it off. "Thanks though."

Piper shrugged. "Any time."

"And," interjected Rachel with a devious grin, "Percy's reaction when he sees you will be priceless – worth any bit of problems that could arise."

I laughed. "Well, as long as he doesn't screw up my hair like he did for my junior prom."

"That was a disaster."

"You're telling me," I said, rolling my eyes. "Come on, he should be here by now."

"And don't tell her to be fashionably late, Rach, that's how the Junior Prom Fiasco began."

"Oh, so it has a name now?"

"Yes," Piper and I said together.

I slipped on the black strappy kitten heels that went with my dress and walked outside. Percy was standing there, leaning on Paul's Prius, in a tux.

I smiled. "Hey, Penguin Suit," I said with a grin, "in need of a date?"

The look on his face reminded me of last year around this time – a goofy smile, a light in his eyes, except this time his impulsivity was controlled.

I walked towards him, suddenly feeling a little shy. "Hey," I said quietly. From behind me, I heard Connor Stoll begin, "GET IT, JACKSON!"

However, all he got out was, "GET – UMPH!" Rachel had elbowed him in the gut, and he fell to his knees clutching his stomach.

"Thank you!" I mouthed to Rachel. She nodded.

"Have fun, kids!" she said with a grin.

Percy and I turned away from the year-round campers and he opened the car door for me. "See?" he said, "Controlling myself."

"I'm so proud," I said, planting a little kiss on his lips. I felt him take a deep breath.

"Don't push my resolve," he said with a little smirk. "I've only got so much self control."

I slid into the seat and smiled up at him. "Love you."

"Love you too. You look beautiful."

"So do you." It took me a second to realize what I said. "Oh, wow. I'm an idiot."

"No," said Percy, pretending to flip his hair. "Pretty, pretty princess is what I was going for."

I let out a little laugh. "Fine, Seaweed Brain. Get in the car."

He walked around the small car and sat down, leaning over to kiss me once more.

"Prom, Jeeves."

"You're so weird."

I shrugged. "Yeah, but that's why you love me."

He started the car and took my hand. "Maybe."

* * *

"Hey, guys!" said Leo, walking up next to us. "Nice party, eh?"

"Yes, Leo, now leave, we're trying to dance romantically."

The grin on his face stayed just like him. "Nah, I'm going to hang out here. Percy, Krista won't dance with me. Make her dance with me."

"Leo, you asked her to prom and she threw a slushie down your pants."

Leo shrugged. "I'm looking good right now. I'm in a freakin' tux. Chicks love tuxes."

"It's true," I said, lifting my head from Percy's shoulder. "Tuxes are pretty hot."

"Why don't you ask Marie?" Percy said. "She's in your Pre-Calc class, right?"

Leo opened and closed his mouth. "I…I wanted to. But she's…"

"What?" I said. "Leo, do you actually like her?" I grinned. "Leo's got a crush, doesn't he!"

Leo shook his head and scoffed, trying to look cool but instead losing his balance and stumbling. "Pshh, nah, I don't get crushes. Girls? Nah. I just…No. Yeah. I do. Can we not talk about this?"

Percy rolled his eyes. "Dude, don't wait this long. Go ask her to dance, seriously, I think she likes you too. Come on, please? Don't keep her waiting."

Leo sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair. "You know what? I will. When the next slow song comes on, okay? The next slow song."

Suddenly "Look After You" by the Fray began to play. Percy and I gave Leo identical Cheshire cat smiles.

"Go get 'em, tiger!" I said, punching him lightly on the arm.

Leo steadied himself with a deep breath and walked over to where Marie stood with a few of her friends, looking angelic in a floor length, traditional prom dress.

"So," I said, moving my arms around Percy's neck and absent mindedly playing with his hair, "don't keep her waiting?"  
Percy shrugged. "I made that mistake for what, three years? Why let someone else make the same mistake?"

I dropped my head down as I laughed. "Well, you've got me now. You lucky little son of a sea god." Percy moved his hand from my waist and cupped my cheek in his hand, a gesture so gentle from him that I was touched.

"I really sort of love you, you know that?" He said with a grin. "And seriously, I really like the cut of the dress."

I laughed. "You're so weird, Percy, I –" It had become his custom to shut me up with a kiss each time I was making fun of him, and to be honest it increased the amount of times I went to insult him. Even almost three years later, the kisses would paralyze me, send my head into a thoughtless whirlwind. It was rare that I would be able to break the kiss. Making me go brain dead was a skill only Percy possessed.

Percy broke away from my lips with a smile on his face. There was something behind his eyes though. "Annabeth, next year –"

"Don't," I said, the fear pounding in my head. "Please, don't, I don't want to think about it. Not now, please, I can't…"

"No, I really…You need to know this. Annabeth, we're not going to have a problem, you know that."

"How?" I asked, my concerns coming to the surface for the first time. "I'm scared that…That you're…"

"I'm not going to leave you, Annabeth," he said, brushing away the tear that had escaped. "I swear, Wise Girl, you don't need to worry about it. I promise. This whole thing – we don't even go to the same school now. We're in completely different districts. Your school is on the opposite side of Manhattan from mine. But we see each other all the time. And living in dorm rooms is just like boarding – you're going to be just across the city, Annabeth. You will."

"But high school to college couples never last," I said, letting my words fall out before I could block them. "I don't want to delude myself. Just…Look at it all logically. I can't think of anyone…And you know me and statistics…And I'm…" I lost my sentence in the worry, and just looked up at him. "The math says differently. And I know it's stupid to be getting emotional over this, but really, you know how much I hate it when the math tells me something I don't like."

"Well, say seventy percent of couples don't last," he said with a grin. "Then that's thirty percent that do. Who says we aren't that thirty percent? We can do this."

"But the numbers," I said, "Why am I always so obsessed with figuring things out?"

"Because you're really pessimistic and you're convinced things will go wrong even if we know they won't," he said, kissing me lightly on the lips. "It's endearing. And is a good counter personality trait to my overly optimistic demeanor. It's why we're so good together. And it's why we're going to last."

"It's…I'm scared, Percy. I'm scared we're going to end up like everyone else."

"Come on," he said with a scoff. "Like everyone else? On what planet are we demigods like everyone else? We're the weirdest and most unusual people on this planet. I can make water do weird things. Your brain works faster than anyone's I've seen. We freaking defeated Kronos together. You came to get me from the Roman camp when there would have been a damned good chance of one of us getting killed. We've gone through all this, Annabeth. What's a little distance for people like us?" His smile fell when he saw that tears were still on my cheek. "Wise Girl, don't cry, please. I'm right here. And we have this summer, and all the summers at Camp Half Blood. And weekends, and breaks. We have time. You don't need to worry."

The last two sentences somehow comforted me the most. "We've got time," I muttered. "I'm sorry I'm such a nutcase," I said, pulling him close to me. I brushed the last couple tears away, annoyed at myself for letting me go slightly crazy. Again. "It's kind of disturbing how much I over think, well, everything."

He lightly put his hand on my hair, but I wasn't worried enough about it anymore to stop him. "Well, you're my little nutcase," he said, kissing me on the top of the head. "You don't need to worry. Like I said, we've got all the time in the world. And you're not getting rid of me any time soon." I buried my face in the crook between his neck and shoulder, inhaling the scent of his shampoo and just remembering to breathe. It was something that I rarely did - just breathed. Percy and I rarely just held each other. With the hustle and bustle of demigod life, something was always going on. It was a different kind of feeling to just sway back and forth together. "Don't be so scared, Wise Girl," he whispered in my ear. "We've got this."


	46. 17 and 1 Year: Part One

_A/N: Hello, again all! I have finally hit more hits onto my story than words in the story…Which is saying a lot, since this story is nearly 100,000 words. AHHH! Thanks so much my lovely readers! Hugs and cookies to all of you (and even more if you review :-P )_

_It's a two parter! If this is a weird chapter, I blame it on the Corn Pops I had for dinner and the fact that I'm currently listening to metal while writing this. It's rated between K+ and T because of the end._

_Read, review, and enjoy!_

"WOULD YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP?" I said in a whisper as forcefully as I could across the house.

"You shut up, Owl Face," muttered Nico, "Rachel and I were just talking about how much we want to kick you for this obsessive controlling aspect of your personality."

"Funny you two can only agree on hating me," I said, rolling my eyes.

"And that you and Percy are sickening," said Nico.

"Oh, shut up," said Rachel. I could almost hear the smirk in her voice. "Like you have anything to say about sickening – you decided the closet with the recycling and trash in it was the best place to hide."

"No one would look here!"

"This isn't hide and seek, dummy, it's a surprise party."

"SHUT YOUR TRAPS," I said, shooting off my best glare.

Nico made some sort of annoyed sputter and sunk back behind the recycles. Rachel rolled her eyes and smiled from behind the countertop.

"Mom?" I heard from outside the door I was three feet from. "Where are my keys?"

"Did you really lose them again, Percy? You've been home for five hours and you managed to misplace something." The exasperation in Mrs. Jackson's voice was almost real – I snickered as I patted the set of keys currently residing in my pocket. The plan was simple – confuse the hell out of Percy so he had to find the keys, making it obvious when it was outside the door, just in case someone needed to finish hiding. It was incredibly easy to snag things from Percy as we kissed – I might get a little brain dead, but he loses all consciousness and is essentially as intelligent as a squirrel.

"Percy…"

"Mom, I'm sorry!"

"Let me…" I heard a giggle escape from what sounded like Piper's lips over behind the couch.

"Shh!"

The door swung open, and apparently Mrs. Jackson had completely forgotten that it was my hiding space, as the door slammed me in the elbow. I pressed my hand over my mouth to prevent myself from swearing.

This better be worth it. The cue was, right as the lights turned on, everyone was supposed to jump out.

Oh.

Uh oh.

"Hold on," I heard Percy say, "Let me just turn on the l – OH MY GOD WHAT AM I TOUCHING MOM THERE'S SOMEONE –"

"PERCY IT'S ME, GET YOUR HAND OFF OF THERE."

The door swung away from me, revealing a white-faced Percy standing in front of me, his hand squashed right in between my boobs. I heard Nico's familiar bark of laughter, but chose to ignore it.

"Why the HELL are you behind the door?" Percy asked, looking confused. I glanced down to where his hand was, and through the dim light from the hallway I saw him blush and give a small smile as he moved his hand.

It wasn't like he hadn't made that move before, we had since before he had gone off to the Roman camp, but honestly, it's a little uncomfortable when he does it by accident. With his mother right there. Because he was trying to turn on the light.

"Uh…" I stepped to the side and flipped on the light that I hadn't realized before I was standing right in front of. Mrs. Jackson looked amused – it was my only hope that she hadn't understood exactly where her son's hand had been a few moments before. "I, um, SURPRISE!" I shouted, giving Percy a great look at my jazz hands and why exactly I don't dance. He blinked.

"Excuse me?" He asked.

"SURPRISE…" I said again. "COME ON, PEOPLE."

Immediately, half the tiny apartment exploded with people to the point where it reminded me vaguely of when all the munchkins appear after the witch dies in Wizard of Oz.

"SURPRISE, PERCY!" We all shouted. Realization dawned on his face. "Oh," he said, a smile appearing. "Oh my gods, you guys threw me a party?"

I nodded and pulled him close to me in a big hug. "Happy 17th, you old man!"

"You're only like six months younger…" he said, giving me a look.

"You're old," said Rachel, popping up and walking over to us. "Accept it."

"Oh, fine, mock the birthday boy," he said with a goofy grin.

Suddenly, we heard something fall over. All eyes darted over to the floor where Nico now lay, covered in cans of diet Coke and Sprite.

"You guys need to watch your soda intake," he muttered, going red and trying to stand up. Rachel rolled her eyes and stepped over the cans to where he was, pulling the recycling bin off of him. I looked over to Percy, and the two of us exchanged a look – what Rachel called our, "smug annoying demigod" look.

"Come on, up you get, Klutzy McGee," she said, offering her hand. Nico reluctantly took it and pulled himself up.

"Here," he said, still red, "Let me pick that up."

"No, no," said Mrs. Jackson, bright as ever, "I can take care of it – you guys go in the living room." She winked at Percy and me as we made our way to the small living room.

The group of people wasn't large – just the regular Camp Half Blood crew plus Tyson, Jason and Rachel – so we managed to all fit in the living room.

Just not comfortably.

"Okay, who's getting a chair?" Leo asked, stretching himself out on the couch.

"Move, Valdez," said Katie Gardner, pulling Travis along by the hand.

"You can just sit on top of me," Leo said with a nearly obscene wink of the eye.

"Don't mind if I do!" said Connor, taking a little hop and landing directly on Leo's stomach. The resounding grunt sent the room into excessive giggles.

"Jeez, man," choked out Leo, "Move?"

"Nah," said Connor, making himself comfortable. "I'm good here."

Percy sat down in the recliner and patted his lap. Although I usually hated sitting on his lap, I pushed aside my usual comment on how it made me feel like a three year old and sat down.

"Did you come up with this party all on your own?" he asked, wrapping his arms around my waist and settling his chin on my shoulder.

I shrugged. "Grover, Rachel and I came up with the idea. You'd been, I don't know, sort of stressed and all since you'd come back, and we missed giddy, silly, happy Percy. And now that all of your memories have come back strong, we figured we'd throw you a stupid party."

He pressed a light kiss to my neck. "Thanks, Annabeth," he said.

"No problem." I twisted to kiss him for what seemed like not that long, until I heard a pert "Ahem."

I pulled my lips from Percy's and looked up, only to see Mrs. Jackson looking down at the two of us with a bemused grin. "Sorry to interrupt, guys," she began, "But the pizza's ready."

"Oh," I said, trying to force back an embarrassed giggle, "T-thanks, Mrs. Jackson."

The second she left the room, Piper said, "We were going to tell the two of you to get a room, but then we didn't want you two to take it too far and have a miniature Percy or Annabeth running around Camp."

Percy had to hold onto my waist to keep me from getting up and whomping her in the head with one of his mother's throw pillows.

"I hate all of you," I said through a laugh. "I really do."

"Come on, Percabeth," said Rachel grabbing my hand and Percy's and pulling the two of us to stand up, "Let's get food."

"Percabeth?" Percy asked, giving her a strange look. "What the Hades…?"

"Watch it, cuz," said Nico with a smirk.

"Oh shut it. No, seriously, what?"

"Percabeth. Percy, Annabeth. It's your couple name."

The way everyone else was nodding and smiling like it was completely normal worried me.

"Excuse me?" I asked. "You people named us?"

"Yup. It's quite adorable. Like, Travis and Katie are Kavis –"

"No," said Piper, shaking her head, "Tratie. They're Tratie."

"Okay, fine, jury's still out on Travis and Katie," said Rachel, rolling her eyes, "But, yeah, Gruniper, Percabeth, it's like how on Glee you have Klaine and Finchel and stuff. Percabeth."

"You people are insane," I said, looking at them horrified. "Honestly insane."

Rachel and Piper exchanged a look and shrugged. "We can deal with that."

"It's better than lovestruck," giggled Rachel.

I raised my eyebrow at Piper, whose laughter fell from her face. She narrowed her eyes. "Oh don't you start with that," she said.

I laughed, remembering our conversation about Jason a few days before. "I won't if you don't."

"PIZZA TIME!" shouted Piper.

* * *

"Did you honestly get me a bathing suit, Annabeth?" Percy said, pulling out the pink and purple Hawaiian print swim trunks from the bag. "You're ridiculous."

"It's a joke, Seaweed Brain," I said over everyone's laughter. "Unfold them."

He slowly unfolded the trunks and pulled out the newest Harry Potter 7 part one movie and video game, and the first season of The Big Bang Theory.

The look on his face was priceless.

"You," he said, staring at me with such an enchanted expression I couldn't even believe it, "Are the most fantastic person on the planet."

I shrugged and smile from the chair I was sitting in right next to Percy. "Well, I'm not going to deny – oomph!"

Percy had stepped over to me and cupped my face in his hands. He was kissing me hard and deep – and I didn't have the heart or the willpower to remind him that our friends and his mother and stepfather were about three feet on either side of us.

"Really, again?" came Leo's voice from over by the couch, a little strangled since now he had Connor, Rachel and Nico perched on his back. "Quit it, you nymphos."

Percy and I jumped away from each other, and I honestly began to wonder where this was coming from. Usually we were able to control ourselves – and I wasn't kidding. This was the first time that we actually started to get a little too heated more than once in one day.

It better not be the fact that he's turning seventeen and is older now.

"Sorry," I said, feeling my face go red.

Percy smiled, still looking a little dazed. "Yeah, um," he brushed his fingers through his hair. "The rest of the gifts," he smiled at me with a slightly lusty edge to it, "right."

* * *

The rest of the night went by swimmingly, with Percy and his mother spending way too much time running around trying to find extra trash bags to put the wrapping paper in.

We had camp the next day, so everyone who could drive hopped in a car to go back to Camp Half Blood. Mrs. Jackson let Percy borrow the Prius for the evening so the two of us could go out to dinner the next night in the city on Percy's actual birthday, and our one year anniversary.

"We're riding with the two of you," said Piper, with Rachel and Nico in tow, "because we don't want the two of you making out while Percy's trying to drive."

"Don't you two have other people to annoy?" Percy asked as he stuck the keys in the ignition.

"Nope," said Rachel, leaning forward in the middle seat, "We're all yours."

Percy rolled his eyes and started the car, taking my hand over the gearshift and ignoring Rachel's angry comment of, "BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEEL, NEW DRIVER!"

When we finally – after what felt like a million years of driving with the three people in the backseat yelling Percy – arrived at Camp Half Blood, Rachel, Nico and Piper dove out of the car like the three of them were about to be killed.

"SOLID GROUND!" shouted Nico, "Mother of Zeus, Percy, have you never learned to drive?"

"I drive perfectly well!" said Percy, parking the car. "I have no idea what you're going on about."

"No," said Rachel, looking admittedly a little green, "You can drive fine. Whatever. You have that. What you apparently cannot do is read speed limit signs!"

"You were going eighty in a forty!"

"WE ALMOST DIED!"

"Like that would be a problem for you, Underworld Boy," Rachel scoffed.

"Would you shut up, Firehead?"

"Wow, and you two mock us," I said as I got out of the car. "You guys could be an old married couple."

"I hate you," the two of them said at the same time.

The horrified look they shared was worth the glares.

The five of us walked down towards the Big House, where nearly every light in the cabins were off. Chiron was waiting near Thalia's pine, just standing there.

"Hey, has everyone else gotten here already?" Percy asked.

The centaur nodded. "Now get to your cabins, kids. Time for lights out."

"I'm seventeen," said Percy with smirk, "Does that mean I get exemption from the rules?"

"No."

"Worth a shot. It's my birthday. Do I –"

"No."

Percy shrugged. "Okay."

As always, I had to wait until twelve thirty before I snuck out of the Athena cabin to Percy's cabin.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain," I said with a smirk as I pulled off the cap and shook out my hair, "Happy official seventeenth birthday. And happy one year anniversary."

"Do I get anything special?" he asked with a stupid grin on his face.

I pulled my tee shirt aside to show a blue, lacy strap of my bra. "Well, perhaps some –"

Percy swallowed the rest of my sentence with a heated kiss.

It was funny how his birthday always ends so well for me.


	47. 17 and 1 Year: Part Two

_A/N: Well, I changed the rating to T, because I got tired to changing the rating on a chapter by chapter basis, and I have a feeling that anyone who is currently reading won't be deterred by the rating. It's more of a precaution, really, just in case people don't want to worry about certain chapters they can just not read the rest of them. Most chapters won't be T probably – still K+ - but just in case people keep getting annoyed, I'm going to go for the safe side and put this at T._

_Also, I'm sorry it took so long for me to update – I've been crazy busy the past few days._

_Again, thank you guys so much for your reviews and for caring so much. Love you all!_

_Read, review, and mostly enjoy! _

Unfortunately, the second my lips parted against his, the door slammed open.

"MOTHER OF KRONOS," I exclaimed. I rolled my eyes. "Oh, jeez, how is it always you?"

Nico blinked drowsily, "Gotta find the ponies."

I shook my head, convinced I was imagining things. "Excuse me, what?"

"Ponies. The red ponies. I have to find them. They're running away – I need to find them. Help me?"

"Nico, are you drunk?" laughed Percy, still blushing slightly from the embarrassment.

"Not drunk, gotta save the ponies." He blindly reached out a hand and hit the coat rack on the side of the door. A smile lit up his face. "Pony!" he said in the same dreamlike tone, "Pony, I found you!"

"Oh my gods," Percy said quietly in my ear, "Annabeth, he's sleepwalking."

"He what?"

"Sleepwalking."

"How come no one stopped him?"

Percy shrugged and sat up next to me. "He lives alone in his cabin. If he forgets to lock his door, no one else is going to check it. He must have just stood up and started walking around, made it to the door, and decided the Poseidon cabin was the place that his red ponies were hiding."

I accidentally let out a bark of a laugh. "Oh, gods, this is hilarious," I muttered. I went to stand up and walk over to wake the child of Hades up. "Nico, I –"

"SHH!" whispered Percy, slapping a hand over my mouth and pulling me back down next to him on the bed. "You can't wake up a sleepwalker!"

"Why not?" I tried to mumble behind his hand. Unfortunately it came out more like, "Wuff nuff?"

Luckily, Percy knew me well enough to know that I'd be asking him what was happening.

"It's bad for some reason," he whispered in my ear, "He needs to wake up on his own – it'll hurt him if we wake him up."

"That right there is what we call a predicament."

Percy nodded. "Now we just have to sit here and, um, wait."

"You leave your door unlocked a bunch yourself, don't you," I muttered, folding my arms.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he had to have gotten in here somehow."

Percy slapped his forehead. "Damn it, I always do that."

The two of us sat there, watching Nico petting the coat lovingly for a few minutes. I wasn't sure about Percy, but I was completely out of the mood at that point. Interruptions did not just irritate me while I was working or talking – when Percy and I were kissing, there seemed to be a moment, and if I missed it, I couldn't get it back.

"Can he leave now?" Percy asked ten minutes after Nico initially entered. "This is kind of killing me."

"You're the one who left the door unlocked," I said, absentmindedly drawing little patters on his thigh, "Your fault."

He picked up my hand gently and set it on my own lap. "Please don't do that," he muttered in a slightly strangled tone. "Seriously."

"Why not?" I asked with a smile. "Does it tickle?"

He laughed, sounding a little strangled. "Um, no," he said, in a voice lower than usual, "It does not tickle. Just, um, don't do it. Not until the stupid cousin leaves."

"What makes him the stupid cousin?"

"PRETTY PONY!" said Nico, his face now nuzzling into the jacket.

"That answer your question?" Percy said.

I burst into laughter – I couldn't help it.

"Wha- WHOZAIRE? WHOZIT?" shouted Nico, dropping the coat like it was hot and stumbling backwards into Percy's cabin door.

"Oh, mother of pearl," muttered Percy. "You woke him up."

"His fault," I said, "He's a hilarious sleepwalker."

"What the – Percy? Why am I in your cabin? ANNABETH? WHY ARE YOU –"

I stepped over to him and closed the door, turning on the little cabin light Percy had hanging by the door. "Shush!" I said to him. "We don't want to wake up Chiron – we'd get in so much trouble."

"How did I get in here?" he asked, bewildered. "I don't…Did I fall asleep in here?"  
"Nope," said Percy, coming up behind me, "You sleep walked over to my cabin."

"I what?"

"Walked in your sleep over here."  
"Oh man," Nico said, rubbing his eyes, "I haven't done that in years."

"You were talking about a red pony," Percy mentioned.

Nico went red. "Oh, gods, what the hell was I thinking. I'm…Wow, at least I didn't…Yeah. Why in Hades did I come all the way over here? It's pitch black out."

"Well," I said with a sly smile, "You are the son of the god of the Underworld. The underworld is dark. Perhaps you're just a fan of being a night walker."

"Oh, shut up, Owl Face," said Nico with a scowl. "I'm not even going to ask what the two of you have been doing in here at night with the lights off."

I shrugged. "Percy needed help cleaning his dorm," I lied, "Came over."

"Yeah," said Nico, reaching for the door knob, "Right. I'm going back to my cabin. Quit being all lovey-dovey, you two. It's pretty much disgusting."

"Thanks, kid," I said, rolling my eyes. "Real nice."

"I'm thirt –!"

Nico didn't get to finish his sentence, as I had slammed the door in his face.

"Well that certainly –"

I didn't get to finish my sentence, as Percy had slammed his lips against mine.

"Thank the gods he left," Percy said as he trailed lips along my jaw. I, on the other hand, was not exactly in the mood as his younger cousin had busted into the door dreaming about ponies.

"Percy," I said as he wrapped an arm around my waist.

"Yeah, Annabeth?" he asked, threading his other hand in my hair.

"You're uh," he pressed another kiss to my lips, "No, hold up."

He pulled back, a darkened look in his eyes. "What's up?" he asked, breathing heavily.

"Your cousin just walked in on us."

"Yeah?"

"Sleepwalking."

"I was there, I saw that."

"And you still want to make out."

"Yeah, of course, let's get down to business."

"To defeat the Huns?" I said, cracking myself up.

Percy gave me a blank look. "Are you okay?"

"Are you?"

"Yes."

I gave him a suspicious look. "You're not at all weirded out by the fact that your little cousin just walked in on us, and completely killed the mood."

"I didn't feel like that was a mood killer."

"It totally was."

"I didn't – really?" he asked.

I nodded. "Sheesh, you've been completely insatiable lately."

He shrugged. "Perhaps I've just become a smidge more hormonal since I turned seventeen. Maybe."

"You weren't like this a couple of days ago…" I muttered.

He shrugged. "Hey, I'm the son of Poseidon. He got with like everything that breathed. Perhaps it's genetic."

Before I could answer, he grabbed me by the waist and pulled me down on top of him on the bed. It took me a few minutes before I got my proper brain function back. I tickled him in the side so he would completely lose any ability to move, and rolled off of him.

"That's it!" I said, sitting up. "You've finally grown into that crazy thing that gods get!"

"Come again?" he asked, his eyes still darkened with lust. "I'm, uh," his voice was deep and gravelly, and I almost felt bad that I kept having to stop this. "I'm a little out of it right now, if you can guess."

I smirked. "Glad I can still do that to you after a year." I stood up and leaned against Percy's bedpost as I spoke, more than a little convinced that he would not allow me to speak if I was too close to him. "But seriously, think about it. None of the younger gods and goddesses have this weird lust thing. Artemis is completely celibate. And you hit seventeen and you can't keep your hands off of me? Come on, Percy, let's be honest here."

I put my hands on my hips and smirked as he swallowed hard as I shifted my hips.

"I don't know," he said carefully, "I guess. Maybe."

"Come on, Percy. Just admit it. You've never been THIS addicted to the two of us. It's usually easier for you to stop. And you didn't even react when Nico came in."

He opened and closed his mouth, trying to figure out a way to get around it. Realizing it was futile, he sighed. "I guess…What if it's just hormones though?"

"Oh," I said, "Well, that's possible. But come on. Your dad was a player. Of course you'd inherit some of his, um," I felt a blush creep up my neck, "Sexual needs."

Realization dawned. "Oh, gods, Annabeth, no," said Percy, sitting up next to me. "You think I'm going to be like my dad, like all of the gods, and just dump you after everything?"

Momentarily, I was about to deny that. I almost told him that he was being ridiculous, that I was more secure than that.

And then I realized how true what he'd said was. I did worry that he might become like his parents – like all of us demigod's parents – and leave the people we love just because we get bored.

"I don't know," I said in an uncharacteristically quiet voice.

"Annabeth," he said, taking my face in his hands, "You're being an idiot."

"I'm what?"

"Being an idiot. You know I love you. I probably have since we were, like, fourteen. You're only an idiot when you're thinking irrationally."

"What?" I asked, absentmindedly pushing his hands away from my face. "What if you do start doing what your dad does? Has it really never crossed your mind that we may be more like them than we want?"

"You're worried you're going to dump me because I'm not super smart?" he asked, looking like I'd just punched him.

"Percy!" I said, rolling my eyes. "Now YOU'RE being an idiot! Of course not! You matter so much to me, you buffoon, you've done more for me than anyone else ever has. I'd never leave you just because of something like that. We've been through too much for something like that to change our minds."

Percy smiled at me. "And what did you just say?"

I thought for a moment, remembering what I'd just said. "Oh."

"Yeah, you goofball," he said, pulling me into a hug. "Maybe my hormones are going crazy for godlike reasons. Maybe my dad's a player. But I'm not. I'm half my mom – and she's, well…"

"Super fantastic?" I quipped, wrapping my arms around his waist.

He laughed. "Yeah. Please don't think that anymore, Wise Girl. You never really thought that, right?"

"I suppose not," I muttered. "But I guess, maybe, I don't know. Subconsciously, I guess. And I…Yeah, I don't know."

"You're a goofball," he muttered into my hair, pressing his lips to my forehead. His tone was exasperated but full of love, something I was incredibly used to at that point.

I tilted my head up, kissing him lightly on the chin. "You're the goofball."


	48. The Promblem: Part 1

_A/N: You all hate me/want to kill me – and I totally understand. I haven't updated in about four million years, and I GENUINELY feel bad about it. I have had so much happen in the past few weeks…I don't even want to get into it. But I have returned! And this semester will be over in two and a half weeks, so once summer starts I'll be all for going back into updates every couple of days._

_This is going to be a two or three chapter arc – not totally sure how many yet, but I have a few ideas lined up. If you have any ideas FOR THE LOVE OF GOD TELL ME : p_

_Again, I apologize times a million, and thank you for still reading. Karma kicked my ass though by spoiling my milk for my cereal two days early : ( . And DAMNIT my Honey Smacks fell to the floor. THE WORLD DOES NOT APPROVE OF MY BREAKFAST FOR DINNER IDEA._

_Read, review, enjoy, and PLEASE FORGIVE ME. I LOVE EVERY ONE OF YOU SO MUCH._

Prom: something I said I never wanted to do but secretly couldn't wait for.

My junior year of high school was slowly, agonizingly slowly, coming to an end, and before we left for Camp Half Blood, my school had our junior prom two weekends before the end of school.

Percy, of course, didn't feel like going to my prom. His excuse?

"I don't want to wear a tie!"

"Come on," I said into the phone, "Please? I have to go and no one at this school is even sort of tolerable enough to go with, and I –"

"Wait," Percy interjected, "You'd go with someone else if I didn't join you?" He sounded jealous.

Hmm.

This could be convenient.

"Yeah!" I said with a breezy air, "Yeah, this kid Bailey –" who was gay and one of my favorite people to fangirl over Darren Criss with, but Percy didn't know that "said he was looking for a date, and – "

"When is it?"

I smirked. I knew that would work. "Next month. And you know I think you look good in a tux."

At this I felt like I could almost hear the smirk in HIS tone. "Oh you do, really?"  
"I do."

"Fine. I'll go to your prom," said Percy, "on one condition."

I sighed. This ought to be a good one. "Lay it on me, Kelp Brain."

"You have to wear something low cut."

I huffed in exasperation. "You…Did you really…Are you… Perseus Bradley Jackson!"

"Yes?"

I pulled the phone away from my face and – quite uselessly, may I add – glared at it. "You're such a loser."

"Teenage boy, Wise Girl. Teenage boy."

"I hate you."

"You love me."

"I guess."

"Love you too. Now get back to that calculus homework while I play my new Call of Duty game."

I grumbled something about where he could stick his new game and hung up the phone, folding my arms across my chest.

"Another argument with the boyfriend?" asked my roommate Maria.

I shook my head. "No. He just wants me to wear a low cut dress to prom."

"You're dating the average teenage boy, Annabeth," she said with a light laugh. "What do you expect?"

I fought my regular response of "average my butt," and hopped off my bed to get to my desk. An OoVoo session with Piper and Rachel was required.

* * *

"Do we need to kick his butt?" Piper asked, looking far too excited. "Because we can force him to go to this prom. I'm not kidding, it won't be hard. He falls for my charm speak worse than anyone."

I laughed and glanced over to Rachel's request. It still hadn't gone through. "Nah, he said yes. But his only requirement was a low cut dress. Can you believe him?"

Piper shrugged, tossing her long brown hair over her shoulder. "He's a guy. And you're his excessively pretty girlfriend. It's your fault, really."

I rolled my eyes. "Piper you're way too amused with this whole 'I'm the daughter of the goddess of love yet I am annoying and jaded' thing."

"Oh, would you – "

"Hi guys!"

Piper and I, at the same time, said, "Rachel!"

"So how covered in paint am I?" she asked, running a hand through her hair. The action left a trail of blue across her forehead and through the long curly red on top of her head. Piper let out a bark. "Oh no…"

"Rach, you just literally smeared it from your forehead up."

Using the other hand, Rachel dabbed at it. "Oh, damn. And Nico's probably going to mock me forever for this…Damn."

"Nico's there?" Piper asked suspiciously. "I thought you were at Clarion?"

Rachel shook her head. "Their school year ended last weekend."

I laughed "And Little Miss Badass over here got herself kicked out," I said. "She's at Camp for the rest of the school year then for her senior year she's transferring over here to our school."

"The school will explode," mutters Piper. "And honestly? Why couldn't you have waited until I got back from Hawaii with my dad to get Percy to go to prom with you? Now I can't get a dress with you."

I shrugged. "We don't have to go this weekend. I can wait a week from today or something – go next Friday afternoon,"

"I'm coming home tomorrow at six."

"We're going this weekend. Sunday, 1pm. Meet outside."

"Or, you know," said Piper, leaning back in her chair, "I could just sleep over in your dorm again."

"That could work."

Rachel frowned. "I wish I could come with you guys – it would be so much fun…"

"I'm such I can charm speak someone into letting me apply for a guest invite late," said Piper with a smile, "People are always so much more lenient when you have mind control powers."

Rachel choked on her bottle of water. "Oh, gods, Piper, you're so weird."

The brunette shrugged. "It's my jam, yo. Now let me go ask my dad if we can get an earlier flight. Because with the way things are going I might be able to get in early on Saturday so we can just go get our prom on tomorrow."

Rachel grinned. "Can we all please get dresses that are just, like, excessively hideous?"

"Rachel, you're only saying that because you honestly like dresses that are hideous," I said with a laugh.

"Oh, shut up, you know that green one with the leaves was cool."

It was scared how in sync Piper and I said, "No."

Rachel threw up her hands. "Fine, then. What's the theme?"

Piper burst into laughter. "Oh, you are going to die."

"What is it…?" she asked guardedly.

"Ancient Worlds and Mythological Fantasies," I choked out through my hysterical laughter.

Rachel laughed so hard her head dropped on the desk. "You have GOT to be kidding me!" she exclaimed. "Oh my gods, really?"

I nodded, unable to speak.

"I can't even tell you…I honestly considered asking my mom for that ridiculous dress she shoved me in that day she claimed me, just to see how many people would grill me for being a poser," said Piper, wiping tears away. "Okay, I'll be right back, asking my dad."

"So," said Rachel after she calmed down. "If Piper gets the flight back, when do you want to go shopping?"

I shrugged. "Well, she'll probably get back around two or three if her dad's 'no flights before ten am' rule holds."

Piper skidded back onto the hotel room bed and slid on one side and off the other, landing with a loud clunk on the floor. Rachel and I didn't have the time to ask if she was okay before she popped up and tossed herself face down on the bed.

"Cmf fumf dufuff nuffle dum?"

"Come again?" said Rachel.

Piper lifted her face up, grinning sheepishly. "Can we not mention that I just did that?"

Rachel smiled. "Fine. You get the flight?"

"I got the flight. Shopping tomorrow, meet outside Annabeth's dorm at 3pm?"

Rachel and I both nodded. "Sounds good to me," I said.

"Okay, I have to go now," said Piper, "My dad wants me to meet people. And I don't like people, and they don't like me. I may have to use my jedi mind tricks to make them like me."

"Piper, you are so weird."

She shrugged and shot up a grin. "And that's why you love me. Tally-hoe, chaps!"

With that, she logged off of OoVoo, leaving Rachel and I on our own.

"So what do you think of something yellow and orange with ruffles – "

"Are you going to say that it would have a citrus motif?"

Rachel brightened. "Yes, how did you know that?"

"Because I know you far too well."

"Yeah," she said, looking excited, "So do you think I should –"

"No way in hell, Rachel."

* * *

"Annabeth Chase, you have a visitor."

I yanked my shirt on over my head, grumbled about Rachel and her pathological early bird tendencies. It was pretty much killing me at this point.

Maria rolled over, "Mmm what's it gon on?"

"Sorry, Maria!" I muttered, "Sorry, Rachel's here early, I'm – "

"Annabeth, it's ten in the morning on a Saturday, why the hell is someone here? Do people not understand that I was on tumblr until 3am?"

I yanked and pulled at my jeans for a few minutes before I realized I was trying to put them on over my pajama shorts, "Oh, Hades," I muttered, "No idea, Maria, they weren't supposed to be here until two, I'm really confused right now. Here, I'm leaving, I'm leaving."

I grabbed my ID and my cell phone and booked it out the door.

I was halfway down the elevator when I realized I was going downstairs in the lobby of my dorm while wearing my sleeping shorts, a tank top, flip flops, and my bright orange "CHB" hoodie.

Attractive.

"Hi, Mr. Chambers," I said to my doorman as I dashed out of the elevator. "Sorry, my friend Rachel's not usually this early, but –"

"Rachel?" said Mr. Chambers with a laugh. "Annabeth, that's –"

"Hey, Wise Girl!" said Percy, sauntering up to me with his hands in his pockets. "How are you?"

"Really?" I asked, hands on my hips. "You come to my dorm at ten in the morning. I look like a mess!"

"Meh," he said, his eyes looking me up and down, "Seen you in worse. So, are we going shopping for your dress today?"

"Why on earth did you decide to come so early?"

"I don't know, impulsivity?" he asked with a grin.

"You can't come with me to get my dress!" I complained, "I want it to be a surprise!"

"Are you two getting married?" asked Maria, coming up behind me. She must have taken the second elevator after me, wondering what the commotion was. "Oh my god, is there a baby involved? Because seriously I do not want to have to share my room with a freakin' baby next year. Or with a morning sickness ridden roommate this year. Really?"

"MARIA!" I said, "No, my prom dress, you idiot!"

"Oh," she said, pulling her dark curly hair back into a ponytail, "right, duh. Still half asleep."

I felt myself blush. "Sorry about waking you up."

"No big deal. I do have to get that Political Theory paper done by midnight tomorrow night, so I might as well start it now…" Maria turned around, and I sprinted over to her and pulled her oversized tee shirt that she had worn to bed out of where it was stuck in her underwear.

"Oh, god…"

"No need to thank me," I said. "Just put some pants on next time."

"Thanks."

Percy grinned goofily. "So, we going shopping yet?"

"No."

For a brief second he looked hurt. "W-why not?"

"I don't want you there when I'm getting my dress!" I said, "I'm going with Rachel and Piper later today."

"Why can't I see it?"

"Because it's a surprise."

"Why's it a surprise?"

"If you keep asking questions I will go upstairs, grab my knife, and hit you over the head with it."

"But – "

I pressed my hand over his mouth. "Just think of it this way: now you're in for a treat when see me on the actual day."

His mouth dropped open. "Never thought of that."

"See?" I said, stepping towards the elevator. "Now I'll call you when we're done picking out my dress to talk about hanging out. Tomorrow do you want to go see a movie?"

He nodded and said something that I could guess meant, "Yes, that sounds good, love you," but sounded far more like, "Fuduh nurba griffle snort."

I smiled and walked back over to him, planting a light kiss on his lips. "Love you, Seaweed Brain."

"L-lurvoo too, Annabeth. Talk to you tater."

"Later?"

"Yeah," he said with a smitten smile. "Later."


	49. The Promblem: Part 2

_A/N: It's the return of the jelly beans. Prepare yourselves, my little pals._

_Also…I got a couple, not flames, but unpleasant reviews last time. So my next message does not go out to those whose reviews were less than amicable._

_I LOVE MY REVIEWERS AND MY READERS MORE THAN ANYTHING. Caps lock addict, sorry. Anywheezum, I just want to say thanks times a million for supporting me so much, and I always appreciate your view points as long as any negative ones are presented respectfully and with the knowledge that I take your comments to heart. Thank you for reading, and also I love getting chapter ideas – if you have any, shoot one off!_

_Oh, and I spelled it "Promblem" because Prom and problem – a failed attempt at being witty I suppose haha._

_This is part 2 of the two chapter arc. I have posted Annabeth's hair style and prom dress on my tumblr if you'd want to see. Love you all!_

_Read, review, enjoy!_

"Aw, he loves you!"

"Yeah," I said, pulling a dress off of the rack and examining it, "but he was acting so strange today."

"Like strange is anything new for Percy," Rachel muttered.

"Preach," said Piper, high fiving the redhead.

I ignored them and inspected the beading across the dress' bodice. It was light yellow with blue paneling down the front, a beaded blue band across the waist. "What do you think of this one, guys?" I asked my two friends, holding it in front of me.

Piper's nose wrinkled. "It's a little, I don't know. I do like it, but there's something…Hmm. Go try it on."

"But we just –"

"Go try it on!"

"Piper," said Rachel, "let her pick out a few more dresses before she tries stuff on."

Piper shrugged as she looked through the different dresses. "I'm just saying that there's something weird about the dress."

"The only weird thing about it is how you're reacting."

Piper rolled her eyes and muttered, "You're not going to like it."

The three of us continued to go through the racks, spotting awful dresses and great ones. Piper and I had our arms full with different styles, but Rachel still hadn't found any.

Piper pulled a pretty bright purple dress from the rack "Oh, I love this one."

I reached out and touched it, a little jealous that she had spotted it before I had. "Yeah," I said, a little breathless. It wasn't at all fancy, just a simple strapless gown without much at the top, and just barely a sweetheart neckline. The slightly pleated top of the bodice fell into a pretty jeweled band around the waist. The dress from there fell straight to the floor.

It was perfect.

"I'd try it on," said Piper, "but I don't really like purple."

"I'll take it!" I said a little too quickly. "I really like it."

Rachel from the other side of the rack yelled, "By the beard of Zeus!"

"Really, Rach?" I laughed. "Anchorman?"  
"It was appropriate." Immediately she emerged from where she was with the biggest, fluffiest, most Rachel-esque dress I had seen in my life. It had a tight top, the top layer of fabric black with massive purple and pink flowers splashed all over it. The top layer of fabric split at the bottom to reveal hot pink, ruffled tulle under the dress.

I couldn't decide if it was horrible or fantastic.

"I need this dress," said Rachel, sounding in awe. "I need this dress now."

"What if it doesn't fit?" Piper asked, pushing through the rack.

"IT'S GOING TO FIT," thundered Rachel. "And it will be my prom dress and it will fit and I will be the prettiest little cupcake ever!"

"Cupcake?"

"You know," said Rachel, "red hair is the cherry on top, and the pink is like frosting? I have no idea where I'm going with this, just roll with it."

Piper and I exchanged a look. "Okay then."

"Can we go try things on?" Piper asked, nodding to the massive pile of at least five dresses in her hands. "I have a feeling the one dress is in here."

"Sure," said Rachel. "I want to strut my stuff in this baby for the first time."

The three of us hauled our dresses to the person at the store counter.

"How many?" she droned, looking at us over her black framed glasses.

"I have four."

Piper shoved a couple of dresses to get an accurate reading. "Um, I think I have six. Or eight."

"I have one."

"Here you go," said the worker, handing us our little tags that honestly don't do anything.

The three of us departed into our own dressing rooms.

"I hate this orange one," Piper said over the door. "I look like a carrot."

"At least you look like a carrot," I responded. "This brown one –"

"The halter?"

"Yeah," I said, "The halter. I look like a rotting carrot."

"Not good."

"No, not good."

"I LOVE THIS!" shouted Rachel. I could actually hear her on the other side of me, the dress rustling as she twirled around.

"Okay," I said, pulling on the yellow and blue dress, "how about we all model the next one."

"Sounds good," said Piper.

The dress was absolutely horrible on me. I could barely breathe.

"Wow, Pipes," I said, slightly strangled. "I really like that one on you."

"I usually am not a fan of red," she said with a grin, "But this one's pretty."

"You picked one with beading," said Rachel, in shock. "You…You almost look like a girl!"

Piper glared. "Shut up. It's a short dress still, though, so I don't have to worry about tripping over the stupid thing."

Rachel finally stepped out of her dressing room. She was far more graceful in the full, long skirt than I would have been, standing in front of us with her hands on her hips and a huge smile on her face.

"Rach, that looks awesome!" I said.

"Wow, only you could pull that dress off, Rachel. It looks great."

She shrugged and allowed a huge grin to spread across her face. "I will have to agree with that. This dress is huge."

The two of them finally looked at me.

"THAT'S WHAT IT WAS!" exclaimed Piper. "It's way too small in the bust! I knew there was something wrong with it."

"HOW in the world did you notice that before I even tried it on?" I asked, trying to adjust the incredibly uncomfortable pulling feeling. "Oh, gods, it's like the whole thing is yanking my chest up to my chin."

Piper smiled smugly. "Pretty dress, but it doesn't fit right. You'll need something made for someone, um…" Piper raised an eyebrow, as if trying to phrase it gently.

Rachel, on the other hand, had no such qualms. "When did your boobs do that?" she asked bluntly. "Because they definitely just required band aids a few months ago. And now you don't fit into your clothes."

Scandalized, I folded my arms over my chest and felt myself blush. "Rachel!"

"It's true," commented Piper, "You've got boobs now. That's probably why Percy can't speak properly anymore."

I had an immediate flashback to the conversation Percy and I had had about eight months before at his birthday, about how he was becoming more, ahem, driven like his father and the other gods.

"Sure," I said, trying not to burst into awkward laughter. "Yeah, maybe."

Piper gave me a strange look. "Okay then. Go try on that purple one."

"Which? The bright purple or the light."

At the same time, Rachel and Piper said, "Bright!"

I walked into the dressing room again, vaguely feeling as if I was forced in an inner tube, and tried to yank off the uncomfortable yellow and blue dress. It was stuck around my chest, and I had to literally wiggle every inch of myself to try and get out. It wouldn't budge.

"Uh, guys?" I asked, my hands locked above my head. "Guys, the dress is stuck."

I heard raucous laughter from outside the dressing room. "Quit laughing, you idiots!"

"Sorry!" came a breathless Rachel, "Sorry, sorry, we're coming."

"Yeah," said Piper, "I just have to remember how to breathe again."

I grumbled something about having terrible friends as they came in and found the problem. "Wow, Annabeth, you managed to wrap the entire strap around your neck."

"That would explain why I can't breathe."

Finally, they managed to get me out of the horrid dress. "Now that I'm standing in here a little bit naked, can I have some privacy?"

Piper and Rachel stepped out.

"We're just waiting on you, Annabeth, I definitely have chosen my dress," said Piper.

"Me too!"

I hung up the yellow and blue dress next to the brown one, and pulled the bright purple dress off of the hanger. I couldn't help my goofy smile as I pulled it on over my head and felt the structured, beaded waist perfectly settled against my skin.

I turned in the mirror and zipped up the side.

"Guys," I said, smiling at myself and slightly twirling at my look in the mirror. "I think this is it!"

"Show us!"  
I stepped out. "What do you guys think?" I asked, twirling around.

"Buy it."

I decided that they were right – this was the perfect dress.

After wincing at the price tag of $150, I bought my dress and Rachel and Piper bought theirs, along with picking up our shoes. Rachel returned to camp while Piper and I split a cab back to our high school.

"Excuse me, Miss? You forgot your shoes," said the cabbie, passing the bag to Piper.

She shot one of her dazzling smiles towards him as she took her bags and said, "Thank you."

His foot twitched on the gas and he had to rapidly slam on the breaks.

As he drove away, I said, "Pipes, you really need to watch that whole charm speak, son of the love goddess stuff. You're really good at nearly causing accidents."

"Says the blonde bombshell who renders her boyfriend into a babbling mess."

The two of us walked into our dorm. "Two weeks until prom," said Piper with a grin. "Think Percy will have cooled down by then?"

I laughed. "Knowing him? Not at all."

* * *

Two weeks from the day we bought the dresses, my stepmother had come to visit from California to help Rachel, Piper and I get ready for the big day. I was nervous when I walked into the lobby of her hotel.

It dissolved the second I saw the grin on her face.

"Annabeth, darling!" she said, her arms opened. "Oh, I'm so glad I was able to visit." She pulled me into a big hug, and I supposed she just didn't remember how uncomfortable things had been between use for the first ten years she was in our family. For a few moments she hugged me tight, then released me. "Are you okay?"

I opened and closed my mouth, settling on a smile. "Y-yeah, Christine."

"Sorry," she said with an apologetic smile, "I suppose I'm just a little overzealous with the hugs."

"No, no," I said, "It's fine. I'm glad we can spend time together now."

A smile spread across her face. "Me too, Annabeth. Now, do you have an idea for what your hair should look like?"

I shrugged and held up my dress. "What do you think would look good with this?"

Christine looked closely at my dress. "That's gorgeous, Annabeth, I love it. I actually think I have a hair pin…Oh, my god, Annabeth I have the perfect idea! Listen, are you very attached to the earrings you're wearing?"

"Um, I'm just wearing the owl ones I always do."

"And the necklace?"

I put my hand over the heart shaped necklace Percy had given me for our one year anniversary. "Just this one."

"I have the perfect plan. Here, I'll take your shoes for you."

She took the silver kitten heels from me and the two of us walked towards her elevator. "When will your friends be getting here?' she asked.

"Piper is doing her own hair and makeup, and Rachel's mom made her get it done at a fancy salon, so they're all meeting here along with Percy around six thirty. Is that okay?"

She nodded. "Okay, let's go in, shall we?"

All I could say as we walked into the hotel room was, "Whoa…"

The small room was full with combs, different types of makeup, and bobby pins strewn about.

I turned towards Christine. "Um…"

"Sorry, I was testing out my hairstyle ideas on myself while I was waiting for you," my stepmother said sheepishly. She pointed to the rather fancy hair do on top of her head. "I don't usually wear my hair in curls and pinned up with six thousand bobby pins."

I laughed. "Right. So, what was your idea."

"Oh!" she reached her hand out towards my hair and said, "May I?"

I nodded. "My hair and makeup is in your capable hands."

She grinned and gestured to the seat in front of the mirror. "Okay," she said when I sat down, "Here's what I'm thinking." As she spoke, she manipulated my hair. "We'll part it down the middle, right here, and then I'll take these two pieces of hair and pin them back. And I'll put this clip," she reached over to her desk and picked up a pretty little purple flower clip, "on one side of the part. Your hair is perfect for this too. We'll put a little volume right in front here. It's not going to be too fancy or anything, but I'm going to have to use a lot of hair spray and bobby pins to hold it. You're going to have to be really careful not to bump it or anything, because it might be hard to keep it looking this good."

I nodded. "I'll make sure that everything goes right. I'll be incredibly careful with my hair."

Christine grinned. "Okay. Let's get your hair done, shall we?"

* * *

"Percy's going to lose his mind when he sees you," said Piper as she sat down and crossed her stilettos. "Seriously, you look great. How long did it take to do your hair?"

"Two and a half hours," I groaned with a smile. "I needed about six hundred tons of hair spray and I can't even tell you how many times we had to replace the bobby pins. Apparently my hair eats bobby pins – we went through three twenty-five packs of them."

"Whoa."

I reached over for my heels and as I began to pull them on, my phone rang.

"It's Percy," said Rachel. "Can I get it?"

I nodded. "Go ahead."

She answered the phone. "He's here!" said Rachel, holding my cell phone as I slipped my heels on. I took it from her.

"Hey, Percy!" I said, feeling a little nervous. "You're here?"

"Yup. Can I come up?"

"Room 504."

"See you soon."

My heart was beating quickly as I hung up the phone, and I turned to my friends.

"He's going to go absolutely bonkers, Annabeth," said Rachel with a grin.

"His brain might explode."

I laughed. "Well let's hope that doesn't happen."

Suddenly there was a sharp rap on the door.

"I can't wait to see his face when he sees you!" said Christine, reaching for the door.

The look on his face as the door opened was priceless.

And then he strode towards me, threaded my hands through my hair, and kissed me like the world was about to end.

For a brief moment I had a flash that I needed to make sure my hair was okay, that there was a reason or two why I shouldn't be passionately kissing my boyfriend right then.

But apparently my mind couldn't come up with them at the moment, thus, making out in front of my two best friends and my stepmother.

"Ahem," mentioned Rachel, a few minutes – months? Years? Seconds? I'm not sure – later.

The two of us pulled away from each other, and suddenly I realized how inappropriate that was.

"Um…"

"H-hi, M-Mrs. Chase," muttered Percy, bright red. "Hi guys." He brushed a loose piece of my hair away. "Hi, Wise Girl."

I was breathless for a moment and out of nowhere felt like rushing back to him and kissing the life out of him.

Where was this COMING from?

"Hello, Percy," said Christine, sounding a little flustered. "I'm, um. Your…I'll. Yes, well, let's both just be glad that Mr. Chase wasn't here for that." Percy and I blushed even redder at that, while Piper and Rachel were laughing hysterically. "And, Annabeth, he sort of wrecked your hair."

I scoffed. "Oh, I'm sure it's not that – OH MY GOD." The perfect clipped back pieces of hair were now sticking out at awkward and bizarre angles.

"YOU IDIOT!" I shouted, hitting him. "My hair is wrecked!"

"Jeez, Annabeth, sorry you're so gorgeous that I couldn't resist," said Percy with a smirk.

"Oh, shush, you," I grumbled. "How much longer until we have to leave?"

"Well, prom begins at 7:30. We're planning on getting there at 7:45, right?" Piper asked. I nodded.

"And it takes half an hour to get there," said Rachel. "So you have –"

"Half an hour to make my hair go back to normal," I said. "Oh dear."

"Look, Annabeth," said my stepmother, "We might be able to retrieve, um, some of the original style before you have to leave."

I nodded. "Do your worst, Christine."

Percy sat on Christine's bed, right next to me, as she tried to fix my hair. "Sorry about that, Annabeth," he said with a sheepish grin. "You just…You're really beautiful. All the time. And today…A lot."

"You look good in a tux."

* * *

She sort of almost got my hair fixed…Ish. But all five of us knew this would go down in history as one of the most epically awkward proms in Half Blood history.

The fact that Rachel was driving with Piper in the front seat and Percy and I were relegated to the backseats didn't help either.

"Your hair still looks great, Wise Girl," Percy whispered in my ear, sending shivers down my spine.

"Don't do that," I said under my breath. "Seriously, don't. There is a problem with you doing with that."

"This is incredibly difficult," Percy laughed quietly. "I think the idea that you had back at my birthday is kicking in again."

"Which is weird because it's been eight months and you've been pretty much in control of it since then."

"You look, erm, not better, but, um…"

"What?" I asked, amused by his difficultly speaking.

"You look sexy."

"OKAY, THAT'S ENOUGH," shouted Rachel from the front seat. "We do NOT need to hear your mushy gushy lovey dovey disgustingness AND your dirty talk from the front seat."

"You're honestly making our ears bleed."

Percy dropped his head into his hand. "Oh, shut up, you two."

"And what were you guys talking about at his birthday?" Rachel asked, her usual overt curiosity kicking in again.

"Um…"

I exchanged a glance with Percy and burst into laughter. "Oh, gods…"

"Do they really want to know?" he asked.

"I don't know, it might involve Piper."

The brunette whipped around in her seat. "Okay, spill, love birds."

"You really want to know."

"YES!" said Rachel and Piper from the front seat.

"Percy and I discovered that when he turned seventeen he started taking after his father."

Piper's eyebrows shot up. "Meaning…?"

"Think Medusa in my mom's temple."

Piper looked at me like she still had no idea what I was talking about.

I sighed. "Gods are very…Into the whole love scene. We think it passes down to the kids."

Realization dawned. "Oh dear god."

I nodded. "Something similar, on a lower scale, however, happened to me when I turned seventeen. And the same might happen to you."

"I am so glad I'm not a half blood," muttered Rachel.

"So, yeah," I commented, "Percy and I are hyper and can't seem to keep our hands off of each other, therefore we blame our parents."

Piper dropped her head in her hands, the small wisps of hair that fell from her loose bun framing her face. "Our parents."

"Yeah."

When we arrived at the prom, Percy and I walked in together, and showed our tickets to the teachers working the booth.

We didn't have dinner at the prom, just punch, sodas, and a few snacks, so everyone started dancing straight off.

"I still can't believe how fantastic that dress looks on you, Annabeth," Percy said with a grin.

"I'm still impressed with how great you look in a tux."

He pulled me closer to him and wrapped his arms around my waist, and whispered in my ear, "I love you."

"I love you too."

The two of us kissed again, and I felt that overwhelming desire build up again.

For the next few moments, I kind of forgot what was going on, until Piper yelled in my ear over the music, "PDA!"

The two of us leapt apart and Piper burst into laughter again. "You two…Oh, gods."

"What?" I asked. She didn't respond and instead just walked away, going off to dance with Rachel.

"What?" I asked to Percy. "Come on, let's go ask them –"

"Um, Annabeth?" Percy asked, wrapping his arm around my waist so I couldn't keep walking.

"Yes?"

"You might want to check your hair again."

I glanced in the mirrored wall of the room and nearly punched Percy in the face.

"PERCY, IT LOOKS LIKE WE'VE BEEN MAKING OUT FOR THE PAST THREE HOURS."

He gave up the façade of being normal and burst into absolute laughter.

"What do you say we blow this joint, Wise Girl?" he asked. "We can just go sit by the river and hang out for a while."

"I'm in a dress."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I've got power over water. I'll make sure it doesn't get wet."

I took his hand and sent a brief text explaining to Piper and Rachel where we'd gone.

"Let's go, Seaweed Brain."

_A/N: Mother of soup this is long..._


	50. Thrill Ride of Love

_A/N: Mother of god, this has been quite the unexpected hiatus. Sorry you guys. However, I am back! I've had a lot going on, and now that finals and everything have been completed, here they come!_

_Unfortunately, though, I'm running dangerously low on ideas. Give me ideas! : )_

_I've had quite a few suggestions to go back to the books, so I'm searching through the five we have for Percabeth moments in the PJO series. So, going back to the basics – this chapter is found from pages 233 to 241 in The Lightning Thief. Going old school for chapter 50! I hope this chapter is good for coming back from the mini hiatus and for being number 50._

_As always, thank you for all the (polite) reviews! I love you all! Read, review, but mostly enjoy._

"I'll go with you," said Grover. Percy and I turned to him, me with an incredulous look and Percy looking a little sad. I went to open my mouth, but Percy got there first.

"No," Percy said with more authority than a kid with less than a month of experience should have. "I want you to stay up top with the flying shoes. You're the Red Baron, a flying ace, remember? I'll be counting on you for backup, in case something goes wrong."

The words struck Grover and he visibly brightened. "Sure," he said with a new glow, "but what could go wrong?"

Percy shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "Just a feeling." He turned towards me with a shaky grin. "Annabeth, come with me –"

My jaw dropped and I felt a deep red blush spread across my cheeks. I tried to force back my embarrassment as I said, "Are you kidding?"

He looked entirely incredulous as he asked, "What's the problem now?"

I forced back the impulse to scoff at him. What was the problem? WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM? We were going in a LOVE tunnel together! That's ridiculous. There was no reason why I would want to go on a love related ride with him. Percy obviously didn't realize what this meant. No way did I want to do this. "Me?" I asked, watching his face turn as red as mine. "Go with you to the…the 'Thrill Ride of Love'?" I let out a ridiculous, nervous laugh. "How embarrassing is that? What if somebody saw me?"

"Who is going to see you?" Percy asked, flustered. He crossed his arms defensively across his chest, glaring at me. He narrowed his eyes towards me, and I dared him with my own to say something mean about it. "Fine," he said resigning to the idea of going at it alone, "I'll do it myself." He began to walk away, and I wasn't going to follow him, but then I realized how embarrassed I would be if he completed this quest and I didn't. For a split second, I began to wonder what I should do.

Do I follow Percy and watch him – more than likely – completely ruin this entire quest because I didn't want to work with him? Or do I follow him and awkwardly try to not think about the fact that we were going on a LOVE related ride?

Because I totally don't like Percy at all, especially in that way.

Ew.

After almost watching him leave, I made my decision and followed behind him, sighing loudly. "Boys always ruin everything," I said under my breath, "if I wasn't here he would mess everything up."

The two of us walked towards the boat, and his hand bumped mine as we got closer. I pulled my hand away as if his was a flame, and felt my face turn red again. Stupid Percy, ruining everything.

When we arrived at the boat, Aphrodite's scarf laid next to Ares' shield on a seat, looking both so innocent that it was hard to believe these things contained powerful magic. Before I could open my mouth to tell him to not go anywhere near it, Percy picked up the scarf. I almost burst into laughter at the look on his face when he inhaled the first whiff of the perfume. I, on the other hand, was holding my breath. There was no way I was accidentally going to fall victim to love powers with HIM around. He was bringing the scarf near his face when I rolled my eyes and snatched it out of his hand.

"Oh no, you don't," I said as I crammed the scarf as deep into my pocket as possible. "Stay away from that love magic."

"What?" he asked, a woozy look still on his face. Evidently the magic hadn't worn off yet.

I almost let him know what the most likely thing he would have done under that spell was – kiss the nearest girl – but I didn't want him to think that I was suggesting that he kiss me.

I rolled my eyes. "Just get the shield, Seaweed Brain, and let's get out of here."

It was like slow motion as Percy reached for the shield – I knew something was wrong. My eye was drawn to a mark on the side of the boat. An Eta. We shouldn't have been there. "Wait…" I said warily.

"Too late," said Percy, meeting my eyes with a worried look.

"There's another Greek letter on the side of the boat," I said, instantly worried, "this is a trap."

It sounded as if the theme park had let all the water loose, combined with a few of the rides collapsing. Grinding resonated from the insides of the ride.

"Guys!" shouted Grover from the rim of the ride. Percy and my heads snapped up immediately, only to spot Cupid statues looking like they were preparing for battle. Their arrows pointed towards the opposite side of the rim, so just as I about to duck and dodge, they began to land over the pool instead of in our skin. The wires began to weave together, creating a complex net that would never allow our escape.

"We have to get out," said Percy.

I fought the impulse to grab the shield off of the seat and hit him over the head with it. "Duh!"

Percy grabbed the shield and the two of us took off towards the edge of the pool. Unfortunately, gravity was not on our side. There were no grips on the sides of the pool, and no steps to climb. Percy and I tried our best, but nothing we could do would make it easier to get up there.

"Come on!" shouted Grover as he pulled open a section of the net. It began to weave around his hands at the start of every attempt.

Suddenly, the Cupid's heads opened up, revealing video cameras all around the pool. The pool flooded with light, and I jumped when I heard invisible speakers start to shout, counting down when the place would go, "live to Olympus."

"Hephaestus!" I shrieked, a tone far higher than I'd like to admit. "I'm so stupid! Eta is H. He made this trap to catch his wife with Ares." I dropped my head into my hand and mentally hit myself over the head. "Now we're going to be broadcast live to Olympus and look like absolute fools!"

My mother was going to see this. My mother was going to see be an idiot. Great way to impress her.

Evidently, this was not my day.

We continued to try and climb, at some points actually gripping the sides, until I spotted spiders.

I cannot be held responsible for the ungodly scream that came out of my mouth the second I spotted them.

I could barely breathe because I was so afraid. I couldn't deal with spiders. Angry gods, sure. Stupid boys, piece of cake.

Spiders made me curl up into a ball and weep like a baby. "Spiders!" I muttered trying to force back the tears of terror that were beginning to form in the corners of my eyes, "Sp-sp –" I interrupted myself with an embarrassing scream as I tumbled backwards onto the floor of the pool, feeling the horrible little things begin to claw at my clothing and hair.

Percy pulled me up – quite indelicately, I might add – by wrapping his arms under mine and across my chest, and yanked me into the boat.

When I felt the solid floor beneath me, I curled into the fetal position, and felt my breaths get to the post of near hysteria. I hated how stupid I acted when it came to spiders, and I just knew that Percy was going to bring this up sometime in the near future to make fun of me. But I couldn't be bothered to care at that moment – I was too busy trying to remember to breathe.

The spiders came up on the boat and all I could do was scream in absolute horror again, unable to even kick them away.

From a place through my fear that sounded a million miles away, I heard the speaker thunder, "Thirty, twenty-nine."

The spiders began to weave strands of metal thread around us, and I felt Percy's hands clawing at the thin fibers and breaking the off of the both of us. One started scuttling up my leg, sending me into another fit of hysterics, but Percy must have gotten rid of it.

"Fifteen, fourteen."

"Grover!" Percy yelled, "Get into that booth! Find the 'on' switch!"

"But –"

"Do it!" shouted Percy, sounding more in command than I'd ever heard him. The idea that he may have a plan was the only source of comfort as I laid in a boat coated in spiders in absolute terror. Unfortunately, it did nothing to stop my screaming.

But Percy might fix this. He might get us out of this. He might get rid of these awful spiders.

"Five, four, three," I managed to open my eyes and I saw Percy, his eyes shut in deep concentration, his brow furrowed. "Two, one, zero!"

I heard roaring water and Percy picked me up by the waist and buckled me in, making me feel like even more of a helpless lunatic because I couldn't even buckle my own seat belt.

Water washed over me out of nowhere, breaking my moment of complete insanity. I shook my head and blinked, watching the spiders wash away.

I almost wish I hadn't returned to sanity when I realized what we were about to ride.

The spiders were shut down in the water, leaving me to worry in the back of my mind about electrical currents and if we'd get killed, but I couldn't put that much focus on anything that wasn't gripping the sides of the boat and praying that Percy for once in his life knew what he was doing.

Percy focused hard on controlling the boat, looking pretty pleased with himself as he did so. I knew that feeling – being finally able to harness your powers in a way that doesn't make you look like an idiot.

I began to worry again when I saw the pitch black of the tunnel moving closer.

I lost all sense of dignity as I clutched Percy tightly around the waist as we shrieked, flying down the black tunnel together. His arms were like locks around my back, and I could never have pulled away even if I had wanted to.

I took a breath again, still not loosening my grip on Percy, when we exited the tunnel.

However, my screams only got louder as I realized we were seconds away from crashing into a chained exit gate that would, most likely, smash us into smithereens.

"Unfasten your seatbelt!" yelled Percy in a pitch far higher than usual. I turned to him, completely incredulous.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" I asked in a similarly high tone.

"Unless you want to get smashed to death," he said, sounding a bit too snarky for a guy who's voice sounded like a seven year old girl seconds before. He strapped Ares' shield to his arm, determination written on his face. "We're going to have to jump for it."

In a second, I understood. However, if he really thought that he had the proper idea of when to jump, that would have to change. I realized I still was gripping his waist, and let go, instead settling for grabbing his hand.

"Oh my mark," said Percy.

"No!" I said, "On MY mark."

"What?" he asked, entirely lost.

"Simple physics!" I said cheerily. This was where I belonged. Math and science. "Force times the trajectory angle –"

Apparently Percy was not in the mood for a science lesson at the time, because he interrupted me with, "Fine! On YOUR mark…"

I waited until the perfect moment, and when it came, I yelled, "NOW!"

As be began to sail over the gates, I realized that I'd over calculated and gotten us as high as possible…Which also meant we were going to fly straight over, and then straight down into solid asphalt.

I was about to open my mouth and ask what we should do next when I felt something grab both my hair and my shirt, yanking out about half of my scalp. "OUCH!" I yelled.

Grover had snatched the two of us, but couldn't control the speed we were falling at. "You're too heavy!" he said, "We're going down!"

I wasn't quite afraid as we spiraled towards the ground, due to the fact that I forced myself not to figure out the amount of force that we'd generate from a fall this hard.

I just knew it wouldn't be pretty.

We slammed into a photo board, Grover landing inside the place for photos and Percy and I tumbling over each other until we rolled to a halt with Percy draped over my chest like a horrible winter blanket.

"Ow," I muttered far under my breath. Percy pulled himself up and offered a hand towards me, and I took it and pulled myself up.

The two of us walked over to Grover, his head still stuck in the photo board. I forced myself not to laugh as Percy and I pulled him out of the hole.

"Thanks, man," said Percy, pulling him into a hug. I threw myself in there too. In any other situation, being this close to the two of them would annoy me. However, this was not a normal situation.

They'd both just saved my life.

"Thanks so much, Grover."


	51. Truth or Dare

_A/N: So I never expected to do a Truth or Dare chapter, because I feel like it is almost over done, however, I have had quite a few requests that I have a chapter with that theme. Therefore, I'm throwing my own little weird twist on it. Like I always do._

_I went through an entire bar of Hershey's chocolate for this chapter, so it's kind of more than ridiculous. I hope it's funny though!_

_Set August after Percy comes back from the Roman Camp – two months after "More than a Fight," and a few days before, "17 and 1 Year."This chapter is a little pointless, but it entertains me. And involves fluff. In both ways._

_Thank you guys for all the reviews. It makes my day each time I get another one!_

_Read, review, enjoy!_

"Drew, I am not playing Truth or Dare with you."

"Yes you are," she said, taking my wrist and dragging me along. I tried to shake her off, alas, I was incapable of twisting away as her grip was maddeningly tight.

I turned back to Percy. "A little help, here?" I asked.

"What's the point?" Percy asked Drew. "It's a small camp. We already know everything about everybody."

Her gaze flitted between Percy and me, leaving in its wake a curious smirk. "Not everything."

She took Percy and my moment of astonishment as prime time to drag me away and leave Percy where he stood.

"Do I have to?"

Drew nodded. "Of course you do. It will be fun!"

"Drew, no."

"Annabeth, yes."

"Who's even going to be there?"

Drew shot me one of her absolutely terrifying grins that nine times out of ten makes me want to run for the hills. "Just us girls," she said with a grin. "Well, except for daughters of Hypnos. They're already asleep. At 8:30, can you believe it?"

I shrugged.

"Anyway," she continued, "It's like an end of the summer tradition."

"Drew, we've never done anything like this before…"

She rolled her eyes and dropped my wrist, placing her hands on her hips. "Fine, then, Chase, we're STARTING a tradition. Come on, don't you just want to be a normal sixteen year old for once in your life?"

Well then. If that's how she put it. I sighed. "Fine."

"Great! Everyone's already in the Aphrodite Cabin."

"How'd you get this past the adults?"

"Charm speaking."

"Of course…"

I felt like I was punched in the fact with the color and…glitter of the room as I stepped in, Drew closing the door quietly behind me. "Okay, girls!" she said to what looked like nearly the entire female population of Camp Half Blood that was over the age of fourteen. "Shall we?"

"No," Piper muttered under her breath from her top bunk. I forced back a chuckle. Her dark hair was falling over the side of her bed as she lay with her head upside down off the bed.

"Piper, shut up," said Drew. "Now, we have a few rules. You can turn down a truth or a dare, but you have to run around camp screaming 'Chiron is a horse's ass' if you choose to opt out."

"That's horrifying," said Nyssa. "We'd get our butt kicked."

"Exactly. No one can come up with a dare that would get you in less trouble, so you're pretty much going to have to be guaranteed to take the truth or dare. So who goes first?"

"I will!" piped up Katie, who was sitting on the floor next to her sister Miranda. "Piper, truth or dare?"

Piper grinned. "Dare."

"I dare you to eat an entire jar of marshmallow fluff."

I swear that sticking out my tongue in disgust was a completely instinctual reaction.

"Okay!" said Piper. "Does anyone HAVE fluff?"

"Right here."

"Darn you people and your preparation. Fine. Get me a spoon."

Drew pulled out a spoon and the container of fluff and handed it with a grin to Piper. "I honestly can say I never expected someone to take this dare."

"Dude," said Piper, digging the spoon into the white mush, "have you met me? I'll take any dare." She put the fluff in her mouth and a giddy little smile spread across her face. "Yum."

"You're weird."

Piper grinned at me, and tried to speak, but the fluff effectively muted her.

"You realized it's your turn to dare someone, right?" I said with a grin. She nodded. "And that you can't exactly speak with that in your mouth." She nodded again, and her eyebrows furrowed.

"Grufuffnum."

"Eloquent."

The room burst into laughter as Piper struggled to swallow the massive ball of marshmallow currently clogging her mouth, and she herself began to giggle a little bit. Everyone within a five foot radius rapidly backed up to avoid getting spat on by fluff.

"Oh, okay, wow, that was difficult. Next time I'm definitely taking smaller bites. Can I eat this throughout the game or do I have to cram it all down my throat right now?"

"THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!" shouted Katie with the most ridiculous grin on her face.

"WHY did anyone let you date Travis?" I asked her.

"No, Piper, you can eat it as we play. Who are you asking next?"

Piper closed her eyes and waved her spoon around like a wand, pointing it at random people. "I choose…YOU!" Her spoon was pointed directly at Kayla, a daughter of Apollo who was sitting next to Clarisse as they talked about different battle strategies.

"Me?"

"Yes. Truth or dare?" asked Piper as she dug for another spoonful of fluff.

"Dare."

"I dare you to run over to the Hypnos cabin and yell something into their window."

"They'll kill me!"

Piper shook her head. "Nah, they'll just wake up, yell at you for a moment, then pass out again. Were you wondering why girls from their cabin are the only ones not here right now?"

Kayla stood up and took a deep breath. "If I get killed because of this, it's all your fault, Piper."

"You don't die," said Piper after swallowing a big spoonful. "Just run really fast back to this cabin and they can't catch you."

"Gee that doesn't worry me or anything."

She walked out the door and all the girls in the Aphrodite cabin stuck their heads out to watch. I gave Kayla a thumbs up as she arrived at the cabin's window.

"I AM SCREAMING IN YOUR WINDOW BECAUSE PIPER MCLEAN DARED ME TO!"

Piper nearly dropped her spoon. "I did not expect her to sell me out like that."

"Pipes," I said, halfway between laughing hysterically and diving back into the cabin, "they're going to kill you."

"At least my last meal is nutritious…"

Kayla sprinted towards us with a truly impressive speed and we all ducked into the cabin and shut the door behind her, ignoring the yells from the Hypnos cabin.

"Okay," said Kayla, "Drew, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

Kayla, innocent love that she was, thought about it for a minute. As she sat there pondering her question, I walked over to Piper's bunk and climbed up next to her, wincing a little at the unsettling creak. "Hi, Pipes."

"So," said Piper as she ate another spoonful. "I bet Drew literally dragged you here for this lovely soiree, didn't she?"

"Yup," I replied, nodding towards where Drew leaned against the side of the bed she shared with Lacy. "Percy was extremely uncomfortable with the fact that she literally dragged me away. I have a feeling he knows she's going to ask some horribly personal detail about the two of us."

"This is absolutely ridiculous," said Piper. "I think she's just doing this to try and figure out personal details of everyone's love lives so she can completely interrupt them and sabotage any chance."

I looked over at her. "And you wouldn't in any way be referencing your not-relationship with Jason, would you?"

"No, of course not." She shoved another spoonful into her mouth. "I just have a feeling she's going to ask someone why Jason won't go out with anyone here."

"Well it was kind of uncomfortable when everyone could tell that the two of you are in love with each other and neither of you made a move and wouldn't tell us why."

"Shut up, Owl Face."

I grinned at her and cuddled down onto her pillow.

"Okay! I have it! Drew, who do you think is the hottest guy at Camp Half Blood?"

"Jason Grace, easy."

I could almost feel the anger pouring off of Piper's shoulders. "Cool it, dude," I said under my breath. "Homicides are not tolerated here."

"I'm going to kill her."

"Refer back to my previous statement."

"I'll tell you where she can shove that statement."

"Shut up."

Drew began looking around the room, and her gaze went on Piper and me. I barely caught it though, as I realized at that moment that my entire left leg was falling into the crack between the wall and the bed. "Can you move over?" I asked Piper, "I'm stuck." Trying to cram two teenage girls onto a twin bed was never an easy feat, but make it a top bunk and you've got yourself a serious challenge.

"Ow, that's my foot."

"Yeah, which is in my face."

"Get off me!"

"Ow!"

The room went silent. "Um…What are you two doing up there?" Drew asked, folding her arms across her chest. I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one who realized she does this only to make her chest seem bigger which, I can assure you, doesn't work.

"Annabeth's foot is in my face."

I sat up and hit her with her own pillow. "Oh, blah. Your face was in my foot."

"Can you two shut up? Besides," said Drew with a grin. "It's my turn, and I want to ask Annabeth something that might interest us a little bit."

I froze. I could see Piper's eyebrows, from the corner of my eye, shooting up into her hair.

"Fine," I said, "truth."

"How far have you gone with Percy?"

I should have seen that coming. I really should have. Unfortunately, I did not. "Um…I don't think Percy wants me to talk about our relationship with other people. It's private for a reason."

"Come on, Annabeth," said Drew, "it's truth or dare, and you chose truth."

"Leave her alone, Drew," said Rachel, rolling her eyes.

"Whoa!" said Piper. "When did you get here?"

"I've been in here the whole time," said Rachel with a small grin. "I've just gotten really good at blending in."

"It's Annabeth's turn after this to ask anyone any question she wants. All she has to do is answer, and she's in the clear."

I sighed. It was probably the last thing I wanted to do, explain certain things with them. But I knew that, as long as I answered this, I would probably be able to avoid all other questions in the future. And, of course, they won't ask me how I got Percy to remember me.

Granted, they might be able to guess, but that wasn't important at the moment. I decided to just get it out – it's not like they wouldn't guess eventually.

Piper knocked me out of my reverie. "Annabeth, you're blushing, just answer."

"Oh, great friend you are," I said, rolling my eyes.

Piper shrugged. "Impatient more like. Now answer."

I mumbled something that sounded vaguely like an alien language, a garbled jumble of nonsense that I hoped someone would interpret as an answer.

"YOU TWO DID WHAT?" Drew shouted.

"Huh?"

"Wait, what did they do?"

My eyes darted around the room, and I almost punched Drew. Of course she would do that. I knew she had just pretended to know what I'd said in hopes that other people would interpret the worst. She was quite the demon, but I had to give it to her: she was pretty good at convincing people of things even without charm speak. Or yelling, like I usually invoked.

"FINE," I said. "We've barely done anything, I'll have you know. We've just, uh, second base, okay? Which I'm sure is a lot less than some of you in here and there is no reason that any of you people can be all up in arms about this. We've been dating for almost a year. So all of you better watch it if you decide to make any comments!"

Piper and Rachel both covered their mouths with their hands, avoiding my eyes, but that didn't do much to make it look like they weren't laughing. "Oh, shut up, you two," I muttered.

"Well congrats to Percy." said Drew with a snarky little grin. I was going to get her back for this. "So, now –"

"Nope," I said with a grin towards her. "Darling, it's MY turn. So, Drew, truth or dare?"

"I already went!"

"So? Anyone have a problem with me asking Drew?"

The entire room shook their heads. I had a feeling they knew exactly how annoyed I was at the moment. Drew would get the brunt of it since Drew was the one who instigated it.

"So, truth or dare?"

Drew sighed and sat down on her bed across the room. "Fine. Dare."

"Yes?"

"Shut up, Rachel," said Piper with a laugh, chucking a pillow over at the Oracle who had moved to sit in Piper's desk chair.

"Okay," I said, grabbing the bedpost and swinging down to stand in front of Drew. "I dare you to put on a really horrible bathing suit, run around the camp, and then jump into the lake. After that, go to where we usually have our camp fire and sing the Goofy Goober song from the Spongebob movie as loud as you can. I can provide music."

Drew's mouth dropped open. "How do you come up with these things?"

"She reads a lot," interjected Piper. "And she watches too much Spongebob."

"I thought a daughter of Athena would be too smart for something like Spongebob," said Drew with an uncomfortable look on her face.

"Do not insult Spongebob. It's true genius."

Drew gave me a look that I wish I got less than I did, the one that makes me think that they are convinced I belong in a loony bin. "Are you sure you haven't gone completely insane?"

"No."

Piper looked down at me from her top bunk. "At least she's honest."

"Are you going to do it?" I asked. "Otherwise you just have to go run around outside and risk getting in trouble."

"I made that rule, Chase, I know what I have to do."

"Does anyone have an awful bathing suit?"

Everyone's eyes darted over to Lacy, who grinned. "Oh, yes I do."

"Lacy," said Drew nervously. "You're younger than I am. It won't fit me."

"You'll fit in, Drew."

Lacy walked over to her dresser and pulled out the most hideous two piece tankini with brown and yellow splotches as a design all over it. It was baggy and loose in all the wrong places and the style could never look good on anyone.

"Lacy," said Piper, horrified. "Where did you even GET that?"

"My aunt's fashion challenged," she said with a shrug.

When Drew walked out in the bathing suit, we all burst into laughter. It was just barely too small on the top so that it began to pull at her shoulders.

"Annabeth, this is the most horrible dare I've ever gotten."

"You can't say I'm not creative, though."

Drew gave me a small smile, which worried me.

"Okay. Here I go."

Just like we did with Kayla, all of us piled out the door and watched Drew sprint – silently – around the camp. Unfortunately, no one other than those in the Aphrodite cabin noticed.

When Drew ran into the water, she shrieked. "Oh my gods!" she yelled. "Quick, help!"

Like a flash, Piper and I sprinted towards her, worried she was getting bitten by a snake or something.

Nope.

"Suckers!" she shouted as we reached where she sat. Piper and I exchanged a look as he sprinted back towards the cabin, both of us kicking ourselves for not seeing this coming. Piper and I ran after her, hot on her heels. Unfortunately I stumbled for a split second over a branch, leaving me maybe two seconds behind the two of them. Piper darted into the door before Drew, but my little trip gave Drew time to lock me out of the cabin.

"Guys!" I said, pounding on the door. "Oh, Drew, I'm going to feed you to Cerberus…"

I leaned against the door and glared into the darkness, and my eye turned to the light pouring from the window of the Poseidon cabin. "Or maybe I'll just bail and confuse them all."

I walked over to the Poseidon cabin, keeping my hand on my invisibility cap just in case, and knocked on the door.

"Hi!" I said when Percy opened the door.

"Hey, Annabeth. How'd you get here?" I walked into his cabin and leaned against the wall.

"They're playing truth or dare and – yeah. Drew locked me out."

"Oh dear."

I nodded and he walked over to me, taking my hand in his. "Yeah. They were asking weird things."

"Did they ask about us?"

I rolled my eyes. "Of course they did. They can't keep their minds to themselves, can they?"

Percy laughed and shook his head. "So what are you doing here then, Annabeth?"

"I figured we could play truth or dare ourselves."

"Did you now?"

I nodded. "So truth or dare?"

"Dare."

I smiled and used his shirt to pull him closer to me. "I dare you to kiss me."

Percy grinned down at me, pressing his forehead against mine. "Now that's a dare I could get behind." He leaned towards me and pressed his lips to mine. "Now for you: truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"What's the stupidest thing you've ever done?"

"Not realize that Drew was going to trick me."

Percy laughed. "You just trust people a little more than you should. It's endearing."

I cuddled into his arms, and he wrapped his arms around my waist. "Love you," he muttered.

"Love you too."


	52. Trashin The Camp: Part 1

_A/N: What the…HOW DID I GO THIS LONG WITHOUT UPDATING? Apparently this summer is going by faster than I thought._

_On the other hand, I have made my decision about when this story will end. Do not fret, however, it is not until October 3__rd__. I have an issue with writing out of canon (which is why I drop a lot of fics once something makes it uncanon), so I will be writing this story until Son of Neptune comes out. This does not mean, though, that I'm done with PJO fanfic. It just means that I'll be writing in that canon and that I will write in a universe outside of Illogical and Stupid, Canoodlus Interruptus, and A Halfblood Wedding. _

_This chapter is the summer after Percy and Annabeth graduate high school, and this is part one of either two or three, I haven't chosen yet._

_Thank you for all your reviews! I love you all oodles._

_Read, review, but mostly enjoy._

I stepped out of the car and walked over to Thalia's Pine. "Thanks, Christine!" I called to my stepmother. "Love you guys." My dad stepped out of the car and pulled me into a hug.

"It was fantastic to have you along on this vacation, Annabeth," he said. "I'm glad you liked it! And for ONCE Christine had someone to appreciate Epcot with her. You have no idea how much that meant to her – the boys usually complain every second we're in there."

"No problem," I said, smiling. My favorite park – easily – was Epcot. Another thing in common with Christine.

"Have a blast, Annabeth," said my father.

"See you in August!"

He stepped into the car and waved goodbye. Bobby made ridiculous faces at me as my family drove away. I sighed, taking in the view of Camp Half Blood, calm for once – finally – and nearly peaceful.

I should have expected it to be that moment when I was completely mauled by Percy, Ivy, Rachel and Nico at the same time. The bag I held in my hands were knocked to the ground, and I thanked Athena that I'd had the thought to put all my breakable stuff in my backpack. It was different now that I had a home and that it wasn't constant commotion in the Half Blood world. Campers actually had things to bring into camp, items that belonged to them. I, on the other hand, had enough clothes to last me two weeks, a lot of laundry detergent and then far more technology than necessary.

"Wise Girl!"

"Hi, nerd!"

"We missed you Annabeth!"

Once I shoved everyone off playfully and was able to breathe again, I said, "Hi, guys! How's camp been in the little while that I was late?"

"Nico and I haven't killed each other," shrugged Ivy, "I would consider that a bonus."

Rachel laughed. "Yet."

"Yeah, no promises though," muttered the dark haired boy to my left.

"So you're officially a daughter of Hades?" I asked.

She nodded, absent mindedly twirling her dark ponytail between her fingers. "Yup. Nico here's a little uncomfortable sharing a cabin."

"Aww," I said, patting Nico on the head, "Nico has to socialize."

"Shut up, Annabeth."

"And after all the effort I put in effect to bug him inside his cabin," mentioned Rachel. "Now I just enlist Ivy's help."

"Oh please tell me the two of them have gotten into cahoots," I said, turning to Percy.

"Yep," he responded with a smile, the first he'd spoken. "Rachel and Ivy have double teamed him like nothing I'd ever seen before. I almost feel bad for you, kid."

"Quit calling me kid!" complained Nico. "I'm fifteen!"

"And a half?" I added, grinning at him. He rolled his eyes.

"Just because the two of you graduated high school already, you think you're so old and wise. Ivy's only eleven. Why don't you call HER kid?" He poked her on the shoulder, and she crossed her arms across her chest, frowning.

"Quit poking me."

He poked her again. "Nah."

"Because she already has her big brother to make fun of her," said Rachel. "We just help her along in bugging you, that's all."

"Speaking of bugs," mentioned Ivy, "are we going to do anything about that cockroach infestation in the cabin?"

"Forgot about that," muttered Nico. "Come on, Ivy, let's go." The two of them walked away, and I realized that their similarities didn't stop at the color of their hair. The two of them walked with a sort of swagger back down to their cabin, the movements nearly identical.

"The two of them are totally siblings," I said a little under my breath. "It's a little unnerving."

Percy nodded. "I mean, you and your siblings have some things that make it clear that you're related, but usually it's just the brain and some physical features. Their MANNERISMS are nearly identical, and the two of them just met two months ago."

"Imagine spending time with them," said Rachel with an eyeroll. "I swear, it's like I'm their own personal verbal punching bag. All I do when I go say hello to them is get insulted. It's getting exasperating."

"Then why do you still go over there?" asked Percy with what looked almost like a leer.

Rachel sputtered. "I…What? Oh, look, Chiron needs me! Shut up, you two!" Rachel bounded down the hill, not looking back, but I could tell just from the back of her neck that she was blushing furiously.

"Oh, Percy," I said, wrapping an arm around his waist and leaning in more closely, "always the one who knows how to embarrass people."

"Yup." He leaned in and planted a small kiss to my lips, which, regardless of how chaste it was, stuck my feet to the ground and made my head spin.

"I missed you," he murmured, pulling me close to him. "I don't like how your school got out two weeks after mine and then you went with your family to Disney for a week."

"I don't know, I enjoyed Disney pretty much," I joked. "Didn't miss you one bit!"

Percy fell over onto his back, flailing around clutching an invisible gash in his chest, acting wounded. "Oh, my heart! She's broken it! I'm dying!"

I nudged him with my sneaker. "Oh, shut up, Percy, you know I love you. Help me carry my stuff to the Athena cabin?"

"After that display of affection?" Percy said sarcastically.

"I was kidding!"

"No way, Wise Girl, you're carrying your bags yourself!" He began to walk away from me backwards with a ridiculous grin on his face. It was I, however, who burst into laughter. He backed into Thalia's Pine and a branch slapped him in the face.

"What was that, Perseus?"

"I'll take your bag, dear."

BREAKBREAKBREAK

"THE TWO OF US HAVE TO DO WHAT?"

"Just look after the camp," said Chiron. "I'm leaving the two of you in charge."

"But what about the other counselors?" Percy asked, looking as horrified as I was. The two of us exchanged a brief look, in which I was pretty sure we were both conveying the "holy crap why us we can't control anything let alone the entirety of Camp Half Blood we're going to get ourselves killed WHY WOULD HE LEAVE US IN CHARGE OF THESE DEMONS" fear that was coursing through me.

"The other higher up counselors aren't here yet. Remember, it's just the middle of June, so the camp won't be one hundred percent full until about next week. You only have about half the camp for your weekend – you should be fine."

"And you expect the two of us to be able to handle the camp for an entire weekend?"

"Just Friday, Saturday and Sunday, that's all."

I made a sound that probably resembled a crying cat. "But…But Chiron! Friday's not the weekend!"

"According to Rebecca Black it is."

I had to admit, I giggled at that.

"Really Percy?" said Chiron.

"Sorry."

"Anyway," said Chiron, "all the other head counselors are either coming with me or went abroad for the summer. Their counselor training begins on Friday."

"Why can't we come with you?" Percy asked desperately.

"Because we need someone to take care of the camp," said Chiron simply. "You and Annabeth already have shown leadership abilities in war, so I discussed it with Mr. D – you two will be left behind to manage the camp while Katie, Clarisse, Connor, and Travis join me on the retreat so I can train them in how to lead charges, and how to be proper counselors."

"What about Piper, Leo and them?" I asked. "They're heads of the cabins."

"Yes," said Chiron, "but they aren't high counselors yet. They don't have the same authority You have to graduate high school to be a counselor. And there are only nine of you who have made it there yet, and you two are staying here. Everyone else is either coming with me or studying abroad this summer."

"But…But they'll all revolt!" I said. "We can't maintain control for three days!"

"I know this is abrupt," said Chiron with a sigh. "But please do this for me. We know you can do this. Besides, you have Piper, Leo, Nico and Rachel to help out. Even though they aren't technically high counselors they can help."

"But Rachel's our age!"

Chiron sighed. "Yes, but she isn't a counselor."

I muttered under my breath how unfair it was that Piper and Leo, a year below Percy and I, were still in school, and not being forced to be a part of this. They'd be done with school two days from then, that Wednesday, so they would definitely be conspiring against Percy and me on Friday.

"Okay," said Percy, exchanging a look with me.

"We'll do it."

Relief spread across Chiron's face. "Thank you SO much, you two. I trust you will do very well."

Because Chiron was across the table, I didn't think he heard what Percy said next. I, however, was sitting next to him, and clearly heard him mutter, "you're going to rethink that soon."

BREAKBREAKBREAK

"Wait," laughed Nico, the Friday morning that would begin Percy's and my hell, "YOU two are in charge? Seriously."

"Yes, seriously," I said, trying to maintain a look of authority in front of these fifty kids. "We expect you to conduct yourselves in the proper manner and act appropriately, despite the fact that the typical heads of camp aren't here. We're not going to be tyrants, but we'll make sure to enforce the rules. And if you push us, we're going to come down hard on you."

"That's what he said," said Leo with an absolutely ingratiating grin on his face.

"Really?" I said, rolling my eyes and folding my arms across my chest. "A that's what she said joke. That's the extent of your misbehaving."

Percy nudged my in the ribs with his elbow. "Don't say that, it sounds like –"

"Is that a challenge, Annabeth?" said Nico, a smarmy smirk on his face. "Because you KNOW that between Leo, Piper, Rachel and I, we could easily take over."

Rachel and Leo, on either side of Nico, gave Percy and I looks that clearly said, "come at us, guys."

"We have Chiron on the other line of an Iris message if anyone messes with us," said Percy. "And you guys do realize that, beyond the fact that I'm invulnerable, I'm pretty good with a sword, right?"

"THAT IS NOT A THREAT!" I said, glancing over the crowd, which rapidly became quiet. Some of the younger kids, such as the girls Ivy was sitting with, looked worried. "We're not trying to, like, rule you guys with an iron fist. We just want to keep things under control."

"Oh we know," said Rachel with a grin. "But this gives us the perfect opportunity to mess with you guys without worrying about repercussions!"

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, Chiron's coming back. Even if we couldn't get a hold of him through Iris messaging, we'll tell him when he gets back."

"Still. It's three days of fun," said Nico.

Percy and I exchanged a nervous look. He leaned in towards my ear, and whispered, "This is so not going to be easy."

"Not in the slightest," I muttered back, "but seriously, most of them are in middle or elementary school. They can't cause that much havoc, can they?"

"Don't jinx it," he said, his gaze rolling over the now restless crowd.

"Okay!" I said, clapping my hands to regain attention. No one looked up. "Excuse me!" Still nothing.

"DEMIGODS AND CHILDREN WHO ARE GOING TO BE IN TROUBLE IF THEY DON'T LISTEN, PAY ATTENTION TO ANNABETH."

Apparently Ivy was on Percy's and my side. I sent her an appreciative smile, and she returned it with a thumbs up sign.

"Thanks, Ivy. Now, what I was trying to say is, proceed to your normal Friday activities. I'm taking over archery for Chiron, and Percy's going to be manning all the water activities and the sword lessons. Miranda's taking care of Katie's typical duties. Head to your activities, guys!"

The only people who could stand were Nico, Rachel, Piper and Leo, and they were grinning up at Percy and I.

"Did they really glue everyone to their seats?" I said to Percy.

"Yep."

"Can I kill them yet?"

Percy glared at the four of them, still grinning like idiots. "Not quite," he said, "but I have a feeling this will get worse before it gets better."


	53. Trashin The Camp: Part 2

_A/N: Hiya! Sorry this has taken so shamefully long. I've had a lot of stuff confusing me and literally no inspiration for writing for the past near month – it's been a little bit unpleasant. However, I'm back!_

_As a note: I have no idea how the Camp Half Blood kitchens work. So I'm making this up as I go along, considering that all the information we have gotten in regards to the food at CHBwere just Percy's thoughts about the meals. We've never seen the preparation or even how the food really works. So, I'm going to play around with things. Hope no one minds!_

_I love you all so much, and I appreciate every review SO incredible much. THANK YOU._

Waking up on Saturday morning was stressful to say the least. I'd set my watch alarm clock to an hour before the rest of the camp had to wake up. Seven in the morning was not a pleasant time for me.

I stumbled out of bed and clumsily pulled on whatever clothing I could reach and headed to the kitchens, where I met Percy.

"Food ready?" I asked, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. He pulled me to him and gave me a quick hug.

"Yep," he responded. "Looks like the kitchens are planning on doing various kinds of cereal. And toast. And I think it's doing eggs? Do you have any idea how this works?"

I shook my head. "I figured you'd know."

"You've been here longer than me," he said, nudging me with his elbow. "You're miss 'I need to know everything' so I expected you to have found out ages ago."

"Fine," I said with a laugh, "touché."

"I mean, I'm assuming Chiron left us with what we needed."

"He probably just figured the kitchen would work on its own, right?"

"Right. He probably just knew that all that was taken care of."

I winced. "You have no idea what's happening either, do you."

He sighed and leaned against the table. "No idea."

I stood next to him. "You'd think he would have given us at least a little bit more information before leaving us in charge of about a million adolescents. Alas, we are not given this benefit."

"You speak weirdly," said Percy into the top of my hair. "It's like you were born in another time."

"Or, you know," I said, stepping away from him and rolling my eyes deliberately, "it's like I'm the daughter of the Greek goddess of wisdom and therefore I'm just naturally of higher intelligence."

"That too, nerd."

We finished making sure that there was enough food for breakfast set up to – hopefully – be put on the table, and then walked outside.

"Everyone!" I called through the megaphone. "Wakey time! Breakfast in half an hour! And, um…Good morning!"

Percy raised his eyebrow.

"Hey, I gather that I should at least try to be nice. Think about it: if we're the nice ones then we'll get the kids on our side instead of Nico, Rachel, Leo and Piper's."

Breakfast, a little surprisingly, went by without a hitch. The Scheming Four, on the other hand, were huddled together discussing something or another, which worried Percy and I.

"What are they doing?" I muttered. "Should we be worried?"  
Percy shook his head and took my hand. "Nah, it'll be fine. Come with me."

He took me to the dock where we first kissed, and then off to the side behind some trees, our usual special place to go when we want to avoid all the hullabaloo of camp.

"I'm a little bit disappointed," whispered Percy into my hair. "We were supposed to get at least a little bit of alone time this year."

"I know," I said, planting a light kiss to the side of his jaw. "But we can get little tiny moments like this every once in a while."

I leaned away from him to see a soft smile on his lips. "Yeah," he murmured, leaning his chin in my hair, "yeah, this is really –"

"IT'S THE LOVEBIRDS!" screamed Piper from the other side of the tree. "GET THEM!"

"I WILL PEE ON EVERYTHING YOU LOVE," I shrieked as Piper and Leo doused me with water and chucked…What even was that? Not important.

"I'M GOING TO THROW ALL OF YOU INTO HADES," I yelled, chasing after them. Percy was hot on my heels, and we were gaining on the two of them,

Unfortunately, we forgot who they had on their side. Nico used his powers over the earth to cause the ground to bubble up underneath our feet, causing us to trip and land on our faces. The four other teens seemed to run away cackling as I rolled onto my feet and extended my hand to help Percy up. On a second thought, I withdrew it as I stared in horror at what he was covered in

"What'd they just throw on you?" I asked Percy.

He wrinkled his nose. "Tyson would be happy."

"They didn't."

"They did."

"You are covered in peanut butter!"  
"I am covered in peanut butter."

Percy stood up and shoved some of it off of his shirt. "It's like…Oh, god, I think they mixed it with milk to make it runnier."

I screwed up my face in disgust, and Percy laughed. "You're cute when you make that face."

I ignored him. "But why didn't they just use water?"

"Son of the sea god," Percy said nonchalantly. "Probably they thought it would have made it impossible for it to get to me."

"Is that true? Anything with water you have control over?"

Percy snorted. "Yeah, right. If that was the case I'd pretty much be able to control people. No, it's usually just pure water or bodies of water. If it's mixed with something else it kind of doesn't work. Like I can't control jelly or applesauce or things like that."

I laughed. "You've tried?"

He shrugged and began waddling towards the Poseidon cabin. "I wanted to see if I could make weird things happen to people's food."

"THAT'S why you were staring at my pudding that day you visited my school in junior year!"

He shrugged and shot me his signature "ain't I a riot" grin. "Guilty as charged."

"That's actually really good to know, Perce," said a voice from somewhere above us. I looked straight up to see Leo perched in the branches of the tree above us, grinning down. "Now we really know what to do next."

"What are you – LEO I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

"Why would you drop a peanut butter balloon on me?" I yelled. "I'm affected by water!"

"It's fun to see you angry!"

Percy and I just glared at him as he sprinted away laughing.

* * *

"I'm going to kill Rachel."

"I'm going to kill Nico."

"What'd Nico do?"

"Filled the swimming pool with jello."

I raised my eyebrows. "Wow," I said, mildly impressed. "That's actually really creative."

"I know. And now, since it isn't really water anymore, I have minimal control over it."

"All it does is jiggle threateningly in your prescence, doesn't it."

Percy shot me a glare as I grinned. "Okay, come on, you don't have to tease me about it."

I gave him a campy smile. "Just don't stare too hard at the jello pool."

"I won't. What did Rachel do?"

I folded my arms over my chest and glared at the fiery red hair in the distance. "Ginger snap over there decided to replace all the arrows in archery with straws."

"With straw? Like hay?"

I shook my head. "No. Like, actual straws. That you drink from. She must have gone to Burger King and gotten Piper to sweet talk the manager into giving her upwards of four hundred of them."

"Did you cancel archery?"

I sighed. "I had no choice. We have a full Saturday with nearly half of the typical activities out of commission since Chiron told us the climbing wall was out of bounds until he got back."

"Hey, King and Queen of camp!" said Nico with a smirk as he sauntered over to us.

"Put a sock in it, jello boy," I muttered. "I've got enough to handle without you mocking me."

"Mocking you?" said Rachel, coming up behind him. "Whoever would do such a thing?"

"I hate both of you," grumbled Percy. "I really honestly do."

Rachel and Nico were looking mighty cozy now that they had a cause they could both stand against on the same side. "Hey, what can we say," said Rachel, throwing an arm around Nico. He didn't even flinch. "we're just a few steps ahead of the game."

"Yeah right. We've got this pretty much under control."

"Oh have you?" said Rachel, tapping her finger on her chin. "Tell me, Annabeth, what were you thinking of doing for lunch?"

I thought back to what else had been in the kitchen when Percy and I had been in there earlier"Oh, just – oh crap."

"It seems the peanut butter y and the jello has been used!" She placed her hands over her cheeks, looking rather like Macaulay Culkin from Home Alone, in fake surprise.

"Oh no!" said Piper, pretending to swoon. Leo caught her.

"What on earth will you do!"

"Doesn't the table, I don't know…" I looked over at Percy for some help. "It…It just…Makes the food, right?"  
"No, of course not. The food is stored, then used. You now have only jelly, bread, water and applesauce for lunch. For shame."

I narrowed my eyes at them. "You realize this screws you four over too, right? You guys have no food to eat either."

The look they all exchanged worried me. "Oh, Annabeth, of course we have food. We saved some for ourselves."

Percy and I exchanged a look.

"Do we kill them NOW?" I exclaimed.

Percy shook his head. "No, we'll…we'll figure something out. Ish. Hopefully."

The four other kids laughed hysterically. "Sure you will. Sureeee you will," said Piper. "Hey, doesn't it seem like it's getting dark out?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"Oh look – it's about to rain."

Percy stared at them. "And what's that to us?"

"It looks like all the cabin doors are sealed shut with, oh, what was it, Nico?"

"Silly putty," he responded.

If I ever got a moment to breathe, I would force feed them all toads.


	54. Trashin The Camp: Part 3

_A/N: Dear NaNoWriMo, I hate you so incredibly much that I am taking time out from you and working on fanfic. How do you like them apples, novel?_

_Sorry about the wait – I am in the midst of writing a novel and finally found time to pop in here and work on this story!_

_Pardon this chapter. I just...Too much sun, too much ice cream, too little thought process left after my NaNoWriMo. I haven't been writing funny stuff lately, so this is purely ridiculous._

_I love all of my readers so much – and each review STILL makes me smile._

_Read, review, but mostly enjoy!_

* * *

Before I could follow through with my threat to make them ingest amphibians, they all scurried off. I grumbled something about stabbing myself with a fork as I walked up to the nearest cabin – Hypnos' – and yanked on the door. "It's not completely sealed," I told Percy. "But it's all gummed up in the lock. It's going to take us ages to get this out, and all the kids are outside. Ugh."

"And I'm going to assume that the four of them conveniently left all of their own cabins open, right?" said Percy, sighing.

I nodded. "They probably would." In a split second, I realized what that meant. "Oh my gods, that's it!"

"What's it?" Percy asked, confused.

"Rachel's in the Big House, in that apartment!" I exclaimed. "They can't have gummed up that doorway, she would have slaughtered all of them before they knew what hit them!"

Percy's face lit up. "We'll just shove everyone in there until it stops raining!"

It took me a few seconds before I realized something very important. "We're complete idiots," I said, dropping my head into my hands.

"Why?" Percy asked, looking up at the sky in worry. "Because we agreed to take control of the camp? Because if that's the reason then yeah, we are idiots. Huge idiots."

"Well, there's that," I mentioned, "but remember that one major thing about the camp?"

"What thing?"

"The camp doesn't exactly get weather. And the sky's covered in clouds, but that's not much different than usual."

It was now Percy's turn to drop his head in his hand. "Oh, wow, I can't even…What in Poseidon's name is wrong with us?"

I shook my head. "We're practically being held captive by deranged teenagers. Our brains are shutting down to protect themselves."

"Can that actually happen?" Percy asked, looking intrigued.

I shrugged. "No idea. But this is certainly traumatic enough to cause it."

Percy laughed. "Hopefully we don't go all Jack Nicholson in the Shining."

"Hereeeeeee's ANNIE!" I said, waving my dagger around. Percy burst into laughter, and I heard a random chuckle from behind me. I sighed and turned around. "Nico, for the love of – OH MY GOD!" It honestly felt like getting slapped in the face by an ice cube. "OW!"

Nico grinned, the pail of ice cold water in his hands. "Okay, so you realized it can't rain. However, we make it rain, we make it rain, we make it rain on them h–"

Percy glared threateningly at his friend, "Nico, if you finish that song lyric directed towards Annabeth, you'll be pulling that pail out of somewhere pretty uncomfortable."

Nico shrunk back. "Sheesh, and I thought Annabeth was the scary one."

"I'm too scarred by your escapades to be frightening right now," I said, mildly impressed with Percy's retort. "But how are you going to nail everyone with buckets of water?" I asked, brushing my now soaking wet hair out of my eyes. "I mean, really, people are going to run away from it in moments. It's not like it'll be that easy."

"And I'm resistant to water, if none of you people noticed."

"That's why," said Rachel, sprinting towards us with a bucket in her hands, "we got a PILE OF THIS FOR YOU!"

Although it would be deemed mutinous if I ever voiced the opinion, I found the image of Percy covered in chocolate pudding extremely hilarious.

"You covered me in pudding," said Percy, half in shock and half amused, "I am doused in chocolate pudding."

"I'm sure you taste lovely though, dear," I quipped.

Rachel made a disgusted face. "Ew," she said. "Keep your lover's talk in private, people."

"He's covered in pudding!" I said.

Rachel shrugged. "Still inappropriate for camp leaders." Nico and Rachel raced off together as Percy and I stood there covered in various substances.

"Well now that we don't have to make everyone go into the Big House, we may as well just get all this crud off of us and unseal the doors."

"Opposite order," I sighed.

Percy kicked a rock in frustration, leading copious amounts of pudding to go flying across the grass. I stifled my laughter.

"Oh, shut up, Owl Head," he muttered. "I am covered in pudding and all you do is laugh. Laugh!"

"It is rather amusing," I said nonchalantly, "and I do like pudding."

"Some girlfriend you are!" he said, walking towards me. For a brief second I had no idea what he was about to do but the look on his face told me.

"Oh no you don't!" I squeaked, turning around and running away from him. His arms were outstretched as I sprinted away from him. "I am about to be attacked by a pudding man and ABSOLUTELY NO ONE is willing to help me?" I shouted across camp. People from all different cabins had broken the seal on some of the doors – apparently a lot of people had called Hephaestus for favors, as Nyssa and a few of the other kids from that cabin had their hands full with a bunch of people surrounding them.

"Annabeth, Percy!" called Nyssa. "My stupid brother and all of them blocked up all the cabins – we better get special privileges for getting it all out!"

"Can't talk – extra dessert – less latrine duty – got to run – PUDDING MAN!" I shouted as I dashed past campers. It struck me that this happened far more than I appreciated, however usually the chasing was the exact opposite, with Percy was running from me.

I was not exactly a fan of the way the tables had turned, if I was being honest.

I darted in between cabins and campers, whose expressions said that they were clearly expecting this kind of fandango to go down with Percy and me in charge. I wasn't sure how I was going to take this implication, but I would have time to think about it later. At that particular moment, I was making a valiant attempt to keep Percy from pretty much squashing me and hugging me with pudding all over him.

Percy, however, got the best of me in the end. As I sprinted from him, laughing, I looked over in the direction I was running, and realized he had me one hundred percent cornered.

"No! Oh, come on, that's not fair!" I shouted, trying to move in some direction that wouldn't lead me to the water. "Perseus Jackson, this is NOT OKAY!"

He ran towards me, laughing, and it was only then that I realized we had drawn a crowd. I began to wonder why everyone thought our escapades and ridiculous antics were so entertaining.

"You are not coming near me, pudding face," I said, backing away. Unfortunately, though, each time I attempted to, Percy would move some water on from the sea and block me in.

It was then that I decided to do the unthinkable.

"Fine!" I said, grinning. "Try this on for size, Percy the Pudding Prat!" I turned around and sprinted into the water, diving in and swimming as far as I could. I knew he could control water, but this meant that he could at least have to come in contact with it. I hoped that, before getting me all covered in pudding, Percy would end up washing himself off.

I hoped.

I surfaced from the water, only to see Percy looking around at everyone watching. The moment we made eye contact, I could tell he had an idea.

Again, I wasn't quite sure I would like it.

"And again you don't think properly, Wise Girl," said Percy, shaking his head. "Come on, Annabeth, you're supposed to be the smart one!"  
I am the smart one. He just hadn't figured everything out yet.

As I expected, Percy began to pull the water towards him, launching me towards him.

Then I realized that he could control the water to come nowhere near him, and that I had essentially trapped myself in his pudding hug.

Oh lord.

"I SURRENDER!" I cried. "I surrender, don't pudding me!"

"Too late!" said Percy's voice beneath me. I felt myself fall, fast and hard, until I knocked into something and the water moved away.

Apparently Percy had attempted to catch me in a sort of bridal carry as I fell, but I must have been too heavy to catch. Essentially, I had flattened him into a pudding pancake.

"Ow," he groaned as I rolled off of him. "Okay, maybe that backfired on both of us…"

"We're both drenched in pudding and nursing sore backs," I muttered. "That is what I would like to consider a backfire."

We both gingerly got up and noticed everyone laughing hysterically at us, including the four trouble makers.  
"We couldn't have planned that!" shouted Piper, doubled over with laughter. "Thanks for making our job easier!"

Percy sent a jet of water over in their direction, effectively dousing them. "Come at me, bro," he said with a little smirk.

* * *

Lunch ended with so much complaining that Percy stomped off so frustrated that anyone who had water in their glasses found the water jumping down their shirts.

Granted, Percy and I had to feed everyone, achy and covered in pudding, so neither of us were in a good mood, but still.

The rest of the day went off with very few hitches, which worried Percy and me so much that we literally kept an eye on Piper, Rachel, Leo and Nico the entire day. When the Aphrodite cabin came around for recreation time, I literally stared at Piper for the whole two hours.

Dinner, however, was another story.

"WHY IS THERE A BUG IN MY SOUP?" Ivy cried, falling backwards off of her seat. "Nico, I am going to KILL you!"

Nico, from the Hades table across from her, grinned. "Whatever do you mean, dear sister?" Apparently that had been the wrong thing to say. Ivy picked up her soul bowl and threw it in her brother's face.

There was absolutely stunned silence as everyone stared at the small girl who was nearly smoking with rage, and her brother who was, well, smoking with hot soup.

"Ivy…?" I said carefully, walking towards her. "Ivy, I –"

"FOOD FIGHT!" screamed Leo, taking the opportunity and running with it. In mere moments I had mashed potato in my ear, Percy looked like he had taken to wearing a tomato as a hat, and Ivy was covered head to toe in gravy.

And that was only from Nico.

Leo was chasing Piper with a vat of soup, flinging pieces of carrot at her with the spoon he had. Nyssa had been doused in chocolate milk, courtesy of Miranda and her friend Kelly tag teaming her and cornering her in between a few tables. Nico snuck behind Rachel, pulled out her shirt collar, and poured a glass of ice water down it. Rachel got him back by slapping him in the face with a handful of lettuce.

Percy and I just stared in absolute shock. It was complete and utter chaos.

"I don't even know what to do anymore," I said, transfixed.

Percy turned to me with the most worrying look on his face. "Hey," he said. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."

That's when I got a face full of chocolate cake.

…Not that I minded, really.

* * *

"I have the best idea."

"These conversations usually end with me watching a movie I didn't want to see because no one would go roller skating with us.

Percy frowned. "I like roller skating…" he said, looking downtrodden.

I patted him on the cheek. "Okay, what's this new idea, sweetie?" I sat down next to him on his bed, waiting for him to mention his genius idea. "Speak, Percy. I haven't got all night."

"We stage a fight or something," he began, "and then, while that's happening, have Ivy and her friends get the camp together."

"Why?"

"Because it will buy us time that Rachel, Nico and the other members of the terror squad won't let us have, because they'll be so busy watching us be fools."

I blinked. "Terror Squad is a rap group," I mentioned.

"Is that really impor – how do YOU know that?"

I shrugged. "One of the old campers really liked that song Lean Back a while back. Anyway, your plan. Do you think it would work?"

Percy grinned. "Course it will. Do you think Nico could ever avoid one of our arguments?"

* * *

The plan was to keep arguing ridiculously until we got the thumbs up from Ivy. We'd distract the entire camp for just long enough that the "terror squad," as Percy so lovingly called them, wouldn't have time to plot anything or switch anything out on us. We were hoping even that we could keep it going into a sword battle perhaps, letting people watch us be complete idiots just so our helpers would have time to set things right again and clean up all that has been a mess.

It would have been so much easier if we knew when Chiron and everyone would return.

So there we found ourselves, arguing over a soaked, yet empty, book.

"You could have tried harder to avoid it!"

Percy threw his hands in the air like we'd planned, looking absolutely exasperated. I had to remember to commend him on his acting abilities. "Annabeth, I'm SORRY, okay? I didn't mean to!"

I groaned and stomped off in the direction of the latrine, as far away from all the biggest messes as we could get, nodding to Ivy and a few of the younger campers as I went. The seven of them scurried off to begin cleaning behind everyone. "You soaked one of my most important journals," I said, my tone dangerous. "And you say sorry? I worked SO hard on these plans!"

"How was I supposed to know you brought them outside with you?"

"You should have guessed!"

Percy frowned. Okay, fine, I'd gotten the line wrong. I hoped he could improvise.

"I don't know why you're so mad at me!" he shouted. "God, Annabeth, it's like I have to read your mind!"

"Well…Well." Uh oh. "I don't know what to do!"

Percy and I exchanged a frantic look. "Fine, why don't we settle the argument with a duel?" he said, mentioning the sword fight earlier than we had planned.

Okay, so it was my fault. Whatever.

I drew my knife and Percy uncapped Riptide. The two of us began circling each other.

Rachel and Nico, I saw, were exchanging money. I fought back an eye roll as I realized that they must have bet on whether or not it would come to this.

Idiots.

The two of us began to thrust our weapons, darting in between parries as easily as if it was just another training session. The only problem is that we weren't actually angry, so the whole adrenaline kick wasn't making it too interesting.

"You're slow!" I shouted. Percy gave me a look, and I shrugged, coming up close to him and pressing the blades together.

"Really?" he whispered. "You're slow is the best you can come up with?"

"I panicked, okay?" I muttered. "I'm not good at being mad at you unless you're stupid."

"Well, I –"

"Of course we'd return to find Percy and Annabeth fighting," said Connor, folding his arms across his chest.

"Really, you two," said Chiron with a smile, "sometimes a person wonders if you love or hate each other."

Percy and I exchanged a grateful look. "You're back!" I said, nearly crying with joy.

"Don't do that to us ever again!" Percy shouted, looking pained. "Please, never, I'll do anything."

"Anything," I agreed.

Chiron looked shocked. "What HAPPENED?" he asked. "And why are the tables being cleaned by some of the younger campers?"

"Oh, about that," Percy said, rubbing his neck and nodding over towards the Terror Squad. "We had some scoundrels."

"Scoundrels?"

"Shut up, Annabeth, the word sounded good in my head."

Chiron glanced over to Rachel, Nico, Piper and Leo who, instead of looking nervous as I would have been, looked pleased with themselves. "Good job, guys."

"Thanks – wait," said Percy. "Why are you telling THEM good job?"

Rachel burst into laughter. "Oh, gods, you two."

"Chiron TOLD us to be like this!" shouted Piper, crying with mirth. "We were supposed to give you guys hell, just to see if you could handle it!"

"Granted Nico's food fight was unplanned," said Leo, nudging the Hades son. "But it turned out to work."

Percy and I just glared. "Are you kidding me?" I asked.

"Are you KIDDING me?" Percy said, louder than I had said.

Chiron smiled. "Now, aren't you impressed? You guys could definitely handle the camp on your own without the four of them being troublemakers if you could handle it when they were."  
"You call this handling it?" I asked dryly.

Chiron shrugged. "Hey," he said, "to-may-to, to-mah-to."


	55. What To Expect When Expecting

_A/N: I AM NOT WORTHY! Fanfic has been SO hard for me to write lately because I completely wrung myself out on my nanowrimo. However, hello, I have returned!_

_I love all of you to pieces and every review still makes my day a million times better. For that, I can never thank you enough._

_This fic comes a little bit after "Grandparents" which was ages ago, I know, but roll with it : P_

_Read, review, but please enjoy!_

**3 MONTHS, 2 WEEKS:**

"Here, let me get that pan for you!" said Percy, nearly leaping over the counter to reach three feet up and pull it down, handing it to me. "There we go, most perfect woman and wife in the universe."

"Grover told you about how psychotic Juniper was when she was pregnant with their first baby and now you're terrified I'm going to kill you with every move, now, aren't you?" I said, snatching the pan out of his hands and walking over towards the counter. Every once in a while I realized my stomach was getting larger, but nine times out of ten Percy managed to convince me that I was imagining it. I mean, it's not like you really show too much this soon, right?

Percy shrugged. "Okay, fine. Was I over doing it?"

I nodded my head. "Maybe just a little bit. Mentioning I'm a wonderful wife is nice, though," I said, bumping him with my hip. "Continue to do that."

He laughed and pulled into his arms, effectively causing me to hit myself and them him in the head with the pan.

"Ow," we both said at the same time.

"Hugs shouldn't hurt," Percy muttered, letting go of me and rubbing his head.

I shrugged. "Well let me just put this stupid pan down," I said, doing just that, "and then we can have a hug that doesn't end in a concussion, yes?"

Percy nodded and pulled me closer to him. "And just think," he said in a wistful voice, "in a few months we won't be able to hug like this, because of your belly getting big."

I pushed him off of me. "Watch it, buster," I said, wagging my finger in his face. "It's not my belly, it's the baby belly. There's a difference. Well," I said, furrowing my eyebrows. "Not really. But in my head there is, so there should be one in your head too."

He put up his hands in surrender. "You'll be just as beautiful with the big baby belly as you are now, you idiot," he said, laughing, "don't you worry one bit."

**5 MONTHS:**

"Percy!" I said, running into the house, I have some news! We're going to – holy hell what happened in here?"

Percy shrugged innocently, holding Riptide in his hand and staring down at the floor, where I assumed there once was a monster. "Oh, nothing," he said as if we were discussing dinner. "Just another hell hound trying to eat my face off. What was it you need to tell me?"  
I grinned at him, nearly bouncing on the balls of my feet. "Well," I said, looking around the room, unable to stop being so giddy. "Here's a hint: it seems as if we always get attacked by hell hounds whenever something incredibly good happens."

Percy's eyebrows furrowed. "You finally got the motorcycle working again? I was going to say that it was about time, you crashed it eight months ago."

My grin fell into a glare. "Excuse me, Perseus, but it is far bigger than the stupid motorcycle. And I TOLD you, that thing came out of nowhere!"

"Annabeth, it was a speed bump."

I folded my arms over my starting-to-get-big belly. "Shut up. Anyway, so I went to the doctor's today…"

He sprinted towards me, "IT'S A BOY, ISN'T IT!" he shouted, jumping up and down in front of me. "THAT KID IS GOING TO BE –"

"Wrong," I said, laughing. "You had a fifty-fifty chance of getting it right, and you got it wrong." I sighed. "Ah, well. We can hope she gets my brain."

He stopped jumping and for a brief moment a look of worry crossed his face.

"What is it…?" I asked, a bit concerned.

He promptly began to cry. "Oh, my god," he said, beginning to take deep breaths.

"Percy…?" I said, confused, pulling him into my arms. "Oh my gods, what – was it this important that we have a boy? Sheesh, we can always have another kid, but I'm personally a little offended that you would react this way to our daughter –"

"No!" he said, wiping away tears, his voice still a little wobbly. "No, Annabeth…A little girl. My baby daughter. Our baby girl. She's going to be so…So perfect. I just…I'm going to teach her how to ride her bike. And you're going to braid her hair and put her in awesome little overalls and teach her how to sword fight. And I'm going to teach her how to swim. And you, you're," he took my hands in his, and my heart swelled as I saw the look of love on his face, "you're going to teach her just how to be as brave and beautiful as her mother."

"Percy," I said, pretending I hadn't just wiped a joyous tear of my own off my cheek, "you can't teach someone how to be beautiful."

"In that case," he said, cupping my cheek in his palm, "she'll inherit it the second she's born."

**SIX MONTHS, THREE WEEKS:**

"Careful, Annabeth, I don't want you to hurt yourself –"

"I'm pregnant, Percy," I said with a glare, "not blind." I stepped up the ladder and looked at the satellite dish, trying to figure out exactly what had disconnected. "Ah!" I said. "It's this wire," I said, leaning down and grinning toward Percy down at the bottom of the ladder. "See? It's all bent at the end."

"Can you fix it?" he asked, beginning to wring his hands. "I have a, um, I have something to watch tonight."

"Ooh," I said, twisting my tool belt around. It was strangely high up on my waist, very different than what I was used to. This whole being pregnant thing was a little odd – this baby was a little bit in the way all the time. Of course she would be, she's Percy's kid. "What are you watching?" Percy mumbled something incoherent. "What was that?" I asked, twisting the wire back into its place and adding some support. "I didn't hear you."

He mumbled again. "Hurumufh."

"Percy, seriously, speak up," I said, rolling my eyes and replacing the screws in the dish. "I can't hear a thing you say when you mumble like that."

"BBC America is doing a huge marathon of all the episodes of Doctor Who tonight, starting at eight, and I wanted to start watching the first Doctor."

I grinned down at him. "You little liar," I said, laughing lightly. "You told me you didn't like it!"

He grinned sheepishly and shrugged. "Okay, fine, I loved it. And once you passed out while we were watching The Pandorica Opens, I'll admit, I teared up a little bit when Rory came back for Amy."

I leaned down and slapped him on the arm. "YOU OLD ROMANTIC, YOU!" I said with a huge grin. "And to think I expected you to hate Rory and Amy…"

Suddenly I felt the ladder wobble, and Percy gasped worriedly, holding his arms out as if to catch me. As per usual, however, I steadied myself and glared down at him. "I'm FINE, Percy! And so is the satellite, just go inside and try the TV, then call me. If it works, then we're done here. If not, I've got a lot more fiddling to do."

He gave me this ridiculous look, one eyebrow up and his lips pursed. "I've got something for you to fiddle –"

"Perseus Jackson if you finish this sentence I'm going to run after you and kick your ass, pregnant or not."

**EIGHT MONTHS, ONE WEEK:**

"I can't…I can't DO IT!" I said, sitting down on the floor of the nursery, folding my arms over my knees and bursting into tears. "I just can't DO IT!"

I sat there for a few moments, every once in a while adjusting my position when the baby would kick so she would be comfortable. Her slight movements comforted me slightly, but sometimes would worry me further. If I couldn't even paint the nursery…

It was five minutes later when Percy burst in and found me sitting on the floor. "Hey, sweetie, I found more of that bright purple paint for the decoration of the trim – Annabeth, what's wrong?"

"I can't reach the paint tin!" I sobbed. "She's in the way, and I can't bend down, and I can't do it, and I can't do anything right and, oh, my god!" I burst into fresh tears again and felt his sturdy arms around me.

"Annabeth," he said, smoothing my hair and whispering quietly in my hair. "Shh, it's alright," He pulled me into his lap. "Shh, I'm here."

"You don't want me on your lap," I said, wiping a few tears away. "I'm going to crush you"

"Now you're just being silly," he said, brushing a few curls from my forehead. "I always want you close to me. Even when you have a big baby belly."

I managed a small laugh at that. "I'm so scared, Percy," I said quietly, leaning my head into the space between his neck and shoulder. "So, so scared."

"I had a feeling this wasn't just about the paint," he muttered into my hair. "And honestly, I'm damned terrified. But it's just because we haven't been parents before – everyone feels like this. And we've got each other," he said pressing his lips to my forehead. "We've always gotten through things really well when we have each other, right?"

I nodded, taking a deep breath. "Oh, gods," I said, pushing my hair back into a ponytail. "I just can't believe how much these hormones have been getting to me. I've never been much of a crier."

"No," said Percy, pressing a kiss to my tear stained cheek, "no, you have not."

"It's her, you know," I said, gesturing down to my stomach. "Little one's driving me crazy."

Percy laughed. "Well, less than a month, right?" He took a deep breath and leaned his head against the wall. "Oh my gods, less than a month." He took another deep breath. "Oh dear Hera, we're in for a big change."

I nodded. "Way to have your own little freak out in the middle of mine," I said, poking him in the stomach. "But, yeah," I said, nodding, "one more month of me all balloon-y like this, and then the two of us are massively sleep deprived and exhausted until she turns eighteen, right?"

Percy laughed. "Well, hopefully we sleep a little bit, right?"

I nodded. "And we have your mom and my dad and Christine to look after her every once in a while. We can totally do this."

"And there you go," he said, pressing his forehead to mine. "Now you're reassuring me."

I shrugged. "It usually ends like this, doesn't it?"

He nodded. "I suppose it does."

The two of us spent a few more minutes just holding each other and looking at the purple and mint green nursery we had been working on for four months now, just taking in all the effort we'd already put in and all the effort we had yet to make.

"Hey," said Percy, " I just thought of something."

I turned to him. "What?"

"You know how she's due January second? What if she comes early?"

My eyes widened. "In that case we need to hurry up on this room!" I exclaimed, trying to scramble out of his lap and stand to get to the paint.

"Oh, no you don't," he said, pulling me back to sit next to him. "That was NOT my point. I just meant…What if we had a Christmas baby?"

I laughed. "Yeah, right," I said, waving it off. "Like that would ever happen."

"She would be a great gift, though," he said softly."

"Yeah," I said, pressing a light kiss to his lips. "She would be."


	56. A Mortal Weapon

_A/N: Hello! Sorry that took so long, I began my sophomore year of college and, stupid me, I am a History major, which means I have literally between 50 and 250 pages of reading to do a night. Not easy in the slightest. However, I managed to squeeze in some Lightning Thief reading in preparation for Son of Neptune (!) so I figured I'd pop on here and work on this lovely fic. _

_Also, in regards to that reviewer, I actually have never really seen much of FRIENDS, but I got "What To Expect When Expecting" from the book "What To Expect When You're Expecting," which I have a feeling is also where FRIENDS got it from : )_

_Read, review, and enjoy!_

* * *

I blinked my eyes awake slowly, adjusting to the bright light surrounding me.

"What in the…?"

"Mommy!" said Callie, quiet as a mouse. "Malcolm is crying."

I rolled over, attempting to sit up, wincing a little at the pain in my abdomen.

"Mommy, are you okay?" Callie asked worriedly. "Does your tummy still hurt."

I smiled down at her. "Only a little bit," I said, trying to breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth, ignoring the pulling sensation. I turned to my right, only to see that Percy wasn't next to me in bed. I checked the clock – eleven at night.

"Oof, honey," I groaned, "could you go get your father?"

"Daddy fell asleep on the couch watching a movie."

I froze. "Oh, gods, what movie?" The last time this had happened he had fallen asleep ten minutes into watching Love and Other Drugs, and Nico and Rachel walked into our apartment to the lovely scene where Anne Hathaway's chest was showing. They thought that I'd put it on to entertain Callie until Percy had popped up from the couch, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Callie shrugged. "I don't know. But there was a lady in it and," she leaned in and said in what her four year old voice considered a whisper, "she was kissing a boy!"

I stifled a laugh. "That's okay for Daddy to watch, darling, he's watching a grown up show."

"I'll go wake him up then," said Callie, padding away into the living room. When I could tell she was out of earshot, I groaned a little more. The ambrosia was definitely not working as well as I had hoped and the major surgery I'd gotten to repair the wound was nearly as bad as the initial shock of pain.

Getting shot in the abdomen is possibly the worst experience I could come up with.

**3 DAYS EARLIER:**

"Percy, I'm fine!" I laughed over the phone. "Rachel just wanted me to come by to help her choose the curtains for the apartment."

"I can't believe they're finally moving in together," he chuckled, "took them long enough."

I smiled. "Well, you just take care of Malcolm and make sure he doesn't climb on the radiator again."

"Oh he's fine I –" there was a brief pause where I could just tell that Percy was jumping off the couch and across the room to pull Malcolm off of his typical perch where he nearly always climbs on. "I've got him," said Percy, a little out of breath. "Malcolm, buddy, want to say hi to your mommy?"

"Don't be ridiculous, he's tiny, he hasn't got a clue what's going on," I said with a chuckle.

"Well he's nine months old," said Percy into the phone, "he started walking early, maybe he'll start talking early too."

"Nah," I said, "let's not hope for that. We've already got one chatty Cathy."

"You?" said Percy with a grin.

"Oh, shut up," I said with a laugh. "Oh, I'm here at Rachel's. I'll call you when I'm on my way home."

"They're going to have so much fun here with Daddy!" he said. I could hear the huge grin in his voice. He always loved staying home with our kids, especially when it meant that I was out having a girl's day with Rachel. He seemed to think that I don't hang out with my friends enough.

" Give the little ones a big hug and kiss from me," I said as I parked the car.

"Hey," said Percy, "don't I get one too?"

"Sure, fine," I said as I grabbed my purse out of the car. "Love you, Kelp Head."

"Love you too, Owl Pellet."

I hung up the phone and walked up the steps to Rachel's dorm, and pressed the buzzer.

"Come in!" she said in a cheery tone. "I've got so many cool patterns, Nico's going to absolutely KILL me!"

I laughed. "Be right up!"

I opened the door and walked the three flights up to Rachel's apartment. She was always a little uncomfortable with how close she was to the ground, seeing as the lowest she'd ever really lived before this was the seventeenth floor, but the apartment was absolutely adorable anyway. I pulled opened the door to the room, walking into the comfortable kitchen, and sauntered into the living room. "Hello, Rachel!" I said, grinning. "How's it going?"

She turned around from where she had been staring at curtains that were plain white with a pale blue lace overlay, and a massive tie-dyed and splatter painted sheet.

"I can't choose," she said, tapping her large paintbrush against her chin.

"Rach, you now look like a Smurf just glued itself to your face," I said with a laugh.

"Oh, shut up," she said, grinning. "I'll get it off later. So which one do you think would annoy Nico the most?"

We discussed the sheets for a few moments and then began chatting about my kids and Rachel's art students, when all of a sudden there was a pounding on the door.

Rachel and I exchanged a startled look. "I wasn't expecting anyone else –"

The door slammed open with shocking force, and two men stampeded into the room with determination in their eyes. They froze when they saw the two of us, then the one on the right regained his wits and pulled out a gun, aiming directly at my chest.

"Get behind me," I muttered to Rachel.

"Are you crazy?" Rachel said, not bothering to muffle her voice. "You're a mother, and Percy would kill you if you died before Malcolm could say your name."

I wasn't scared of the two goons – very little was scary once you've faced a kid you once considered your brother in battle as he aims to kill you – but I was worried about the gun. In all honesty, I had never had to deal with this kind of mortal weaponry before. Yes, I knew how they worked, and yes, Percy had taken me to learn to shoot once he became a police officer, because he wanted me to know how to use it just in case, but I wasn't sure how it would affect me, since I was a halfblood and all.

Other than blasting a hole through me, of course.

"Shut up!" said the guy with the gun, holding it shakily in his hands.

"Look," Rachel began, "if you leave now, we won't –"

"I SAID shut up!" he said, turning the gun back towards Rachel, who had moved beside me. "I'll shoot if you go for your phone, I swear I will!"

"He'll do it, too!" shouted his shorter, more nervous friend.

Rachel and I exchanged a worried look. I could tell in her face that she was trying to get some sort of message to Apollo through that weird Oracle connection, but her furrowed eyebrows let me know that we had no way of getting help as soon as we needed it.

We were on our own.

I attempted to move towards my ankle, where my knife was, but I realized midthought that no matter what I tried I had no weapons that would actually work against them. Damned celestial bronze.

Evil titans, sure. Hellhounds, no problem.

I had no weapons to defend myself against mortals. I never needed one.

Where was Rachel's blue hair brush when you needed it?

Unfortunately, the guy must have thought I was reaching for my phone, because before I knew it, there was a loud bang and I felt myself fall to the floor, writhing in agonizing pain. Dark blood stained my shirt, and I began to feel dizzy, my brain not able to process fully what I was feeling.

"Rachel," I choked out, "call…Chiron…Percy…My mother…Just call…"

The last thing I heard was a loud thud and a man yell, "I called the police! They're on their way."

The last thing I saw was Rachel's worried face above me, unsure of what this meant.

* * *

I woke up in the hospital to Percy's worried face.

"Annabeth!" he gasped. "Oh, gods, oh, thank everything, I'm so glad…The doctors wouldn't let you out! And they've been here the entire time, they won't even let me give you any ambrosia or nectar or anything!"

"They WHAT?" I asked, trying to sit up.

Horrible idea.

For the first time, I took my eyes away from Percy's face, screwed them up in pain, and made the most hideous groan I'd ever made. "Mother of…CHRIST," I said, feeling tears pool at the corners of my eyes. "Flying Zeus, did…Is this what mortal pain feels like?"

Percy gave me a sad smile, and gripped my hand. "I got Athena to intervene – your mom came in as a doctor and convinced them that you were well enough to move you home, so I can get some ambrosia and nectar in you."

I breathed heavily for a few moments before I was able to respond. I looked around and saw that I was attached to a multitude of wires and tubes. "Okay," I said, "how long have I been here?"

"Well, it happened on Monday…It's Wednesday now. You've been in and out of consciousness quite a bit – eventually they gave you sleeping pills Tuesday morning so you could recover without the pain."

"I was cursing the gods every time I would wake up, wasn't I?" I said, trying not to laugh.

Percy broke into a smile. "Yup. They thought you were delusional." He brushed the back of his hand against my cheek, and I leaned into the gentle touch. "You think you can…Somehow stand?"

I shook my head. "Not in the slightest. Do you have any ambrosia and nectar with you?"

Percy nodded. "I convinced the nurse that you might wake up if I was in here talking to you alone, and you woke up as I had you swallow ambrosia."

"Then give me more," I said, "and let's get me out of here."

"First, though," he said, "this." He pressed his lips to mine and, as ever, it felt like home, like everything was right. I had been shot, cut apart by doctors, and in agonizing pain, and yet still Percy could make me feel like everything was going to be okay.

I don't want to remember the way it felt when I got up.

But once Percy brought me home – carrying me, which I tried to fight against but he just wouldn't listen, I pretended that I hated it – and set me in our bed, I felt at ease immediately.

There was just one thing wrong.

"Percy," I said, drowsy again from the sleeping pill Percy had insisted I take so that I'd have a comfortable night's sleep. "Percy, where are the babies?"

"Callie and Malcolm are with my mom," he said, fluffing my pillow and gently laying my head down. "I can pick them up tomorrow, but I really want you to try and sleep tomorrow, let the ambrosia work. Can you do that?"

I nodded. "Can you bring me Callie's pillow and Malcolm's blanket?"

Percy nodded, smiling sweetly. "I know exactly how you feel," he said in a soft voice. "I miss them too."

He pressed a kiss to my forehead, and I fell asleep the second he lay down next to me.

* * *

So there I was, Thursday night, and Percy had passed out on the couch. My wound still hurt from the stitches and everything, because the ambrosia doesn't particularly like healing surgical wounds, but I was feeling a lot better than I had been when it first happened.

Callie stumbled back into the room, rubbing her eyes. "Mommy," she said, letting herself give a big yawn, "Daddy's with Malcolm now."

"Thank you for telling me, sweetie," I said.

"Mommy?" she said in a small voice after a short pause.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Can I give you a kiss to make it better?" she asked in an even softer voice.

"Only if I can give her one after," said Percy, bringing our son in with him.

"What did he need?"

"Just a diaper change," said Percy. "All better now."

I smiled. "My husband, king of the diaper changers."

"And you know it!" he said, leaning down so I could press a kiss to his lips and to Malcolm's forehead. "Annabeth, are you feeling well enough to have the kiddos sleep in the bed?"

I nodded. "Let them sleep on your other side though – just in case."

Callie smiled and went over to Percy's side of the bed, grinning widely. "Love you Mommy. Love you Daddy. Love you Malcolm…Usually."

The laughter hurt, but it was worth it to be safe in bed with my family, with Percy's fingers laced with mine.

* * *

_A/N2: I have never been in a hospital, nor have I ever been shot, so a lot of this is just guesswork. I hope it's good._

_Also, a billion points to whoever gets the Torchwood reference!_


	57. Painting and Games

_A/N: My school internet failed. Which leads to Sara writing fanfic because she has the room alone. I AM EXCITING._

_This is the most pointless fluff you will ever see in your life. I needed something completely absurd to cheer me up from how upsetting the last chapter was._

_This is set a month or two before my story Canoodlus Interruptus, so Percy and Annabeth are around 18 years old._

"We're not going on a date right now."

"Oh we're so going on a date."

"I'm not going to go on a date with you until I don't look like hell."

"Oh we're so going on a date."

I shoved Percy's shoulder. "Excuse me, sir," I said with a laugh, "but there is no way I'm going out on a date with you when I look like hell. We've painting your apartment for the past three hours, I'm all gross and sweaty, and I look like a Smurf just barfed all over me."

"It is a lovely blue," said Percy absentmindedly, peering at the wall. "We chose well."

I flicked some paint at him off of my brush. "Oh, shut up, doofus," I said with a grin. "But we're not going on a date right now."

Percy sighed, then used his paintbrush to paint a stripe down the front of my already destroyed shirt. "Fine," he sighed, "but my mom's not going to be home until about ten at night. She's at that class for like a thousand hours today."

My eyebrows shot up into my hair. "We have six hours on our own?" I asked, allowing a small grin to spread across my face. "Hmm, I wonder…"

Percy's eyebrows waggled. "Well, we could always –"

"No way, Seaweed Brain," I said with a laugh. "None of THAT tonight. But how about a game?"

"A game involving paint?" Percy asked, eyebrows furrowing. "You already played tic-tac-toe on my stomach."

"Yeah," I said, grinning. "Yes I did."

"You only like doing that because it makes me laugh."

I nodded. "And?"

He ran the blue brush across my shirt diagonally, from my left hip to my right shoulder. "You're mean."

He pulled me close to him, pressing his lips to mine, moving his against mine in such a practiced, perfect motion.

"Mmm," I muttered quietly, "I love when we have time to ourselves."

"I love when you accidentally wear a white shirt when we're painting and get yourself drenched," he whispered in my ear.

I shoved him away from me. "Oh yeah, because that wasn't your fault, Seaweed Brain!" I said though laughter. "I didn't 'get drenched,' you squirted the faucet at me."

"I stand by my statement that you were in the way."

"Well two can play at that game," I said under my breath, stepping towards the blue paint and shoving my paintbrush in it. "Take this, Barnacle Boy!"

I whipped the paintbrush at him, getting bright blue paint all in his hair.

"You are evil," he said, running a hand through his hair and pulling it out looking as if he was the one who the Smurf got sick on. "Completely evil."

I grinned, and tossed my ponytail back over my shoulder. "And?"

He stepped towards me and cupped my cheeks in his hands, pressing another kiss against my lips. "And I," he said, brushing part of my bangs out of my eyes, "am even more evil."

It took me a second to realize what he meant.

And that's when I realized that now there would be paint all over my face.

"Touche," I said, trying to rub some of the paint off with the small part of my arm that wasn't covered in paint yet.

The two of us worked on the walls a little longer, until we had done all we could.

"We have to wait two hours before we do the second coat," said Percy, leaning against the table that was covered in plastic covering. "What do you want to do?"

"Let's play random questions," I said to Percy.

"What's that?" he asked, rinsing out his paint brush in the sink.

"Random questions," I said. "We'll ask each other questions about anything we want."

Percy smiled, "Annabeth, we know everything about each other."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, right!" I said with a laughing. "I definitely don't think that's true."

Percy shook out the paint brush, and flecks of blue tinted water got all over him. I laughed, and he walked over, flicking the paint in my hair again.

"Okay then," he said, kissing me lightly on the lips, "What was your favorite part of high school?"

"Really?" I asked, grinning. "That's the juiciest question you can come up with?"

"It's a question."

I sighed. "Academic, social, what kind of part are you thinking about?"

He shrugged, "How about academic?"

"Well," I said. "I really liked Western Civilization."

"You would."

"I know I would. In fact, I do."

Percy grabbed the pale yellow paintbrush we had used for the trim off of the table and painted it on my denim shorts. "Stop being so smart, Annabeth."

"Stop being such a doof, Perseus." I hopped up on my bed again.

"Come on," he said, "It's your turn. What question?"

I thought for a moment and smiled – I had the perfect idea. "Exactly what did you think the first time we kissed?"

Percy stared at me for a few moments, and then out of nowhere started blushing and chuckling quietly.

"What?" I asked, worried, "What? Were you disgusted or something? Did I kiss badly? It was my first kiss, you know, too," I said, starting to get a little defensive. "It's not like I had a million years of experience and you wouldn't have known any better so you're not allowed to –"

Percy shut me up by making out with me for a few minutes. He was always good at distracting me that way. When he pulled away, he said, "You over think everything."

I nodded. "Yes, I do, but what does that have to do with anything?"

He shrugged. "Well," he said, "You thought that my laughter was a bad thing. In reality though, when we kissed I kind of forgot how to think for a while."

"What do you mean?"  
"Well," he said, running a hand through his hair and using the other to hold one of mine, "I felt like someone had smacked me in the head with a hammer, and I couldn't really think for about five minutes."

"That's romantic…" I muttered. "I have the same effect on you as a concussion."

He sat down on one of the wooden stools, taking my hand and pulling me closer towards him. Although in public I never would, I sat in his lap. "You know that's not what I mean, Annabeth," he said as he kissed me on the cheek. "I didn't know it, but I'd been waiting for that kiss for ages. It made me happy, you know?"

"It better have," I said with a smirk.

"How about you?" he asked. "What were you thinking the first time we kissed?"

I blushed. "Well, I was afraid you would die, and I wasn't really thinking when I did it. It was kind of a reflex, like involuntary."

"You mean you didn't mean to kiss me?" he asked, looking hurt. I sighed, watching him frown.

"NO!" I said. "It was a reflex, meaning it's what I did instinctually. I was worried I'd never see you again, so my first thought was to kiss you. I just didn't know I meant to. It was what I wanted but I didn't realize it," I smiled and leaned my forehead against his. "Did you seriously think that I would have rather not kissed you?"  
He shrugged and kissed me on the nose, "I don't know. For the first three years that we knew each other I couldn't exactly tell if you hated me, liked me, liked me as more than a friend or wanted to rip my face off. I'll have you know you're a very confusing girl."

"Me? Confusing?" I asked incredulous.

"Well, you're the most confusing girl in this room," he joked, laughing.

"You think you're so funny. If you want to talk confusing, let's talk Rachel, shall we?"

Percy spluttered for a moment before choosing his words. "Can we possibly not?"

"Who was a better kisser?" I asked, trying to fight back a smile. I really didn't care about the answer. I just wanted to see him squirm. After the fiasco after I found out that he and Rachel had kissed, I'd laughed for hours at his reaction. This would definitely provide the same entertainment.

"Um, well," he said, laughing lightly, "The kiss with you was better, mainly because it's you. But with Rachel it was a little different because, you know, I kind of expected it. And I think she had been planning it." He paused as if searching for words. "With you it was hurried, and hers was obviously planned out. You know what I mean?"

I nodded. "Mine was spontaneous and hers was planned out. I get that. And, you know. You were about to die in both situations, so either way a kiss would be a nice way to end it."

He chuckled, "I suppose so. I'm just glad that you're my only kiss now." To prove his point, he leaned in and gave me a light peck on the lips.

"Ew," he said, "you taste like paint."

"And whose fault would that be other than yours?" I asked, grabbing the paintbrush out of his hand and painting a big target on his face, the bull's eye right on his nose. I pressed a firm kiss to his lips.

"You missed the mark," he said with a smirk.

"Now, Percy," I said, turning so I was straddling him on the chair. "This is me we're talking about. Don't you think that I would hit exactly the mark that I'd want to every," I kissed his jaw, "single," I kissed the side of his neck, "time?" I finished my sentence by pressing a heated kiss to the hollow in his throat. I saw and felt him swallow hard.

"That's what I thought," I said with a grin.


	58. College

_A/N: Hot damn I'm getting good at updating on time now. Probably because it's close to being over and I can't deal with it : (. This one is set after Canoodlus Interruptus, by probably three or so weeks – right before they go to school._

_Thank you to all who are still faithful readers and to all new readers and to all readers in general! It still makes me happy whenever I see someone has reviewed or favorited. Love you all!_

_This one is definitely rated T+ as it references the events in Canoodlus Interruptus and has a little bit of suggestion going on : P but I'm sure you guys will handle it. I hope you like it!_

_Read, review, but first and foremost I hope you enjoy._

* * *

"He still hasn't finished packing," said Mrs. Jackson, walking with me into Percy's bedroom. "I swear, that boy is always distracted. And he can't even blame the ADHD or the battle reflexes this time, he's just sitting there reading some book he found in the back of his closet. He's being ridiculous."

I laughed. "I love how he can focus on reading a book the one time he's not supposed to. I do the exact same thing."

Mrs. Jackson knocked on the door, and Percy called, "Come in!" from inside.

I pushed open the door, only to see Percy scrambling on the floor, trying to stand up. "Hi, Mom!" he said, tripping over a lamp on the ground and landing on his butt. "Hi Annabeth. Any chance you didn't see that?" I shook my head. "I'm waiting for you to start mocking me."

I shrugged. "Too easy," I said with a grin. "You make fun of yourself sometimes."

He stood up and began folding some of the pairs of jeans in his closet, dropping them into the large suitcase he had chosen to put all of his things in.

I peered into it. "Not even close to done, I see," I said.

Mrs. Jackson laughed.

"I didn't know I had so many tee shirts," he said, digging through the bottom of his closet. "Seriously, this is ridiculous. And this one!" he held up a shirt that he might have been able to fit in when he was twelve, but no older. "Look how tiny this is!"

"Oh, come on," I joked, "you could probably have fit into when we first met."

"Yeah right."

"Percy, we bought that for you when you came back from Camp Half Blood the first time," said Percy's mom. "You were so little then…"

"Let's not have the 'Percy has grown up blah blah blah' discussion," he said, grinning. "I should probably pack." He turned to me. "Help me?"

"Nope."

"Pleaseeeee?" He started to pout and flutter his eyelashes.

"Okay, fine," I said, rolling my eyes.

"I'll leave you two on your own," said Mrs. Jackson. "I should head to that doctor's appointment now, I've got so much to do…"

Percy and I nodded, and when the door to their apartment closed, rushed together for a kiss. "Hi," he said with a smile.

"Hi."

The two of us broke apart and spent what felt like 2 million years throwing his things together, finding a strange myriad of clothing, old candy wrappers and school books on the floor.

"THE ILIAD!" I exclaimed. "You read it? I love it!"

Percy fidgeted. "Um…Not really."

I thrust the book at his face. "Bring it to school. Read it if you have time. I demand it."

He sighed. "Usually I would try to fight this, but you'll always win so I don't think I'm going to bother and I'll just chuck it into the suitcase." He stared down at his suitcase. "This is boring," he said, frowning slightly. "I hate packing."

"Packing is indeed quite boring," I replied.

"So," he said, "we've got a little bit of time left before my mom comes back from that doctor's appointment." He walked towards me and wrapped his arms around my waist. "What do you say we –"

I playfully shoved him away. "Nuh-uh," I said to him, shaking my finger. "You, my dear, need to finish putting away all of this crap you have. And then maybe."

His eyes lit up and he began packing faster than I thought humanly possible.

"Wow," I said, impressed. "Maybe I should consider rewarding you with sex more often. This is one of the best ways to get you to get things done."

"Shut up," he said, throwing his stuff around the room. "You are allowed to use your incredibly sexy self to control me in certain situations but you can't make fun of me for it."

"Aw," I said, grinning. "I can't?"

"No."

"But I make fun of you about everything else!"

He stood up, folding his arms across his chest. "Oh, so you won't give me this one thing?" he asked with a grin.

I shook my head. "Nope!" I said. "Never making things easy for you," I said, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him close so our foreheads touched, "remember?"

He leaned in closer, and breathed, "I'll never forget."

* * *

"I can't believe I failed that miserably at making you focus," I said, laughing a little bit.

"You are always the best at getting me distracted." He pressed a kiss to the top of my head. "I'm going to miss it when we're at school and we can't always just meet up and be stupid together."

I sighed. "You nervous for school?"

He scoffed, a little too confidently. "Me? Pshaw. Of course not!"

"Liar," I said, rolling closer to him and pressing a kiss to his collarbone.

"Okay, fine, I'm a LITTLE worried," said Percy, pulling me closer to him and pressing a kiss to my forehead.

"I knew it."

"You're not scared?"

I shook my head and cuddled in closer to his shoulder. "Of course I'm not," I lied through my teeth. "College will be a snap. I'm actually all packed, as opposed to you, loser."

Percy gasped and punched me lightly in the shoulder. "Not fair! Someone distracted me when we were SUPPOSED TO BE PACKING," he said, staring down at me.

"I know, I know," I said with a sigh, "you can't seem to resist my feminine wiles and utter allure, I understand."

"Yeah I barely caught any of that," said Percy, eyes locked on – oh of course. "I was too busy realizing that you never put that bra of yours back on."

I sat up on the couch, laughing a little, and began to get dressed. Percy pouted. "Oh, what now, Seaweed Brain?" I asked.

"I was hoping you would decide to finish packing with a little less shirt involved."

I burst into even louder laughter. "Good lord, Percy!" I said, standing up and beginning to pack up some of his socks from his drawer. "It's like ever since that hotel visit you've been a little bit less sentient than usual."

"What?"

I pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Exactly."

I pulled on the rest of my clothing and threw more of his things into his massive suitcase. It was a few minutes before I realized how quiet the room was.

"Percy?" I said, turning to him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm worried," said Percy suddenly, giving me what I liked to call the 'wounded puppy' look.

"About what?" I asked, picking up a shirt that was in his suitcase and refolding it. "Your folding skills? Because I'm about that worried too." I turned back to him with a huge grin on my face when I realized he looked even more like a wounded puppy. More like a puppy that had been left alone on the side of the road and – wow now I'm making myself sad. "Percy," I said, dropping the second shirt back into his suitcase and walking over to him. "W-what's wrong?"

"College," he said, "what if it doesn't work out?"

"What if what doesn't work out?" I said, feeling nervous. Ever since prom he'd been the one convincing me. And now he's – what was going on?

"Us," he said, running a hand roughly through his hair, breathing heavily. "Annabeth I'm so…I'm so damned scared." He dropped his head into his hands. "I've fought the Titan lord. I've killed hundreds of monsters. Hell, I've faced my probable death more times than I can count on both hands. And somehow I'm more terrified now than I've ever been in my life and it's all because I can't stand to think that something might go wrong with us." He lifted his head, giving me this half-defeated look. "Annabeth, I just…I don't even know what to do if we don't work out."

"I – no, but…We'll be FINE," I said, grabbing his face in my hands and turning him to face me. "We are going to ROCK this, okay?" I said, pulling his face uncomfortably close to mine. My eyes were nearly crossing trying to look at him correctly. "We're going to defeat the odds like we've done every other stupid time when you've messed up and I've had to cover for you. We'll be an hour and a half away, sure, but we'll meet up every summer for the whole three months at Camp Half Blood. And we have breaks, and weekends." I pressed a firm kiss to his lips. "Come on, Seaweed Brain, I'm supposed to be the overly analytical paranoid one and you're supposed to be happy go lucky and believe in anything one."

He shrugged and leaned his forehead against mine. "I guess I'm just…I saw what's happened to a lot of my friends from high school. Jackson broke up with Krissy the second month after they got into school. They were ENGAGED. They were planning their wedding! And, boom, over."

"Well Jackson and Krissy never kicked the ass of a minotaur when they were twelve or defeated a Cyclops when they were seven, did they?" I said with a smile.

Percy laughed, a smile appearing on his face. "Okay, I see your point," he said with a smile. "But what if something just goes wrong?"

"It won't, stupid," I said. "It's YOU and ME. We defeated Kronos together. I was the only thing you remembered at that Roman camp, and you rescued me from holding up the entire world. We've got this, Percy," I said, taking his hand. "We've saved the world a million times, what's college against all of that?"

He nodded, pulling me onto his lap and holding me close. "How come you're so smart?" he said, nuzzling into my hair. "I don't think it's fair."

I laughed and leaned my head on his shoulder. "Now, Percy," he said. "If I wasn't this smart, I'm pretty sure you would have gotten us in a lot of trouble by now."

Percy shrugged. "Can't disagree there."


	59. Dancing

_A/N: And here is the penultimate chapter of Illogical and Stupid. It feels sort of like packing my kid up for college the week before they leave, just beginning to feel the loss before it's really happened._

_This is insane. I can't believe I've written so much Percy Jackson fic in less than a year, and I can't believe how many people actually liked it! This is just a brief freak out before the official freak out that I will be posting on the 3__rd__ or the 4__th __of October, when I write my final chapter._

_Also, I'm not completely done with fanfiction. I will keep writing – just not in this story, because ninety percent of this story will be deemed AU the second Son of Neptune comes out, and I have issues with writing AU._

_Set on pages 299-300 of Titan's Curse._

_As always, read, review, enjoy: )_

* * *

"He keeps looking at you," said Thalia, leaning close to my ear, speaking in a whisper.

"What?" I said, whipping my head around. "What are you talking about? Who is?"

Thalia laughed. She seemed brighter and more at ease now, like the world had been lifted off of her shoulders. I hated to admit it, but she looked better as a Hunter, like her worries were gone. She would no longer be in the running to be the child of the prophecy. I absentmindedly twirled the lock of grey hair around my finger. "Don't play coy, Annabeth, you know I know that you love that he's looking."

"Oh, shut up," I said, fighting back a blush. "You don't know anything."

"I know that the two of you are typical fourteen year olds who definitely have feelings for each other," she said with a grin.

"I hate you," I said, fighting back an involuntary smile. "I swear it, I do."

"No, ya don't," said Thalia, flouncing off. "Oh, and by the way, your mother is talking to Percy. Better get over there as soon as you can, right?"

I felt myself pale a little as I noticed that she, indeed was correct. Percy looked incredibly nervous.

I supposed I should go over there and rescue him.

"Percy!" I called, feigning surprise as I noticed my mother. "Oh," I said. "Mom."

Instead of a smile or something like I'd hoped for, my mother, with an emotionless face, said, "I will leave you. For now."

She turned away, graceful and great, from us, walking through the crowd.

I turned back towards Percy, who still looked a little uncomfortable. "Was she giving you a hard time?" I asked, eyeing him carefully.

He shook his head, still looking a little distant. "No," he said in a quiet voice, "it's…Fine."

I looked at him a little longer, trying to figure out what they had been talking, tucking the grey streak of hair behind my ear. His eyes locked onto it, looking at me as if there was something he was forgetting to say.

"So," I said, trying to break the tension. "What did you want to tell me earlier?"

"I, uh," he began, studying his shoes, "was thinking we got interrupted at Westover Hall. And…I think I owe you a dance."

I tried to control the smile that was slowly moving over my face, my heart leaping as I thought he might be saying a little more with that one phrase. "All right, Seaweed Brain," I said, smiling.

He took my hand in his, and it felt less awkward and gawky than dancing at Westover Hall. I couldn't tell if he did it on purpose, but I felt his other hand on my waist, pulling me in a little bit closer. I figured it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to lay my head on his shoulder. You know. Just…casually.

I bumped my head into his ear.

Looks like that wasn't going to work.

"So what do you hear for music?" he muttered quietly into my ear.

"Something a little slow," I responded. "The tempo of our dancing. It's got flutes and violins – and no vocals. Just music."

"Of course," said Percy, smiling and dropping his head. "You would hear classical music."

"What's wrong with classical?" I asked, wrapping my arm a little tighter around his shoulder. You know. For, um…Leverage.

"Nothing," said Percy, smiling right at me. "It's just very…Annabeth."

"Very Annabeth?" I asked. "What do you mean?"

He shrugged, dropping my hand and putting his own around my waist. "I guess…It's subtle and intelligent and pretty, and can pack one hell of a punch when the time is right," he said quietly.

"Pretty?" I asked, fighting back a smile.

"You – you know you're pretty shut up," he said, his face beginning to glow beet red. "You're the daughter of Athena, of course you're going to be pretty."

"Oh, now you're hitting on my mom now?" I said, unable to force back the smile. "I don't think she'd be into a scrawny little hero like you."

"Scrawny?" Percy said indignantly. "I'm not scrawny! Well, not anymore. I had a growth spurt!"

"Growth spurt?" I chuckled. "You're still shorter than me."

"Well, yeah," he said, "but you're probably done growing. I've got a couple more years of getting taller."

"So you admit boys take longer to mature?" I said.

Percy shrugged. "It's better than thinking I'll be shorter than you for the rest of my life."

I threw my head back and laughed. "Oh, you just wish you'll get taller than I am."

"I will be taller than you are," he said indignantly. "Your mom's only, what, five foot four? And your dad's not that tall either."

"He's a perfectly average height!" I said, frowning.

"Well, my dad's the god of the sea," said Percy, grinning. "Maybe instead of eating my Wheaties I should drink a bunch of salt water."

"That would destroy your liver," I said, raising my eyebrows.

"Or perhaps it will turn me into a fish." He raised an eyebrow, looking ridiculous. That's when I spotted that he had a grey streak too.

"You've got grey, too," I said quietly, reaching up to touch it. His eyes closed as I touched it, and I pulled my hand back quickly. "I mean, I have one here," I said, pulling it from behind my ear. "See?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, holding up the sky is not as easy as it looks."

I smiled. "Tell me about it."

We danced in silence for a few moments, and I thought about how much time had gone by since the two of us had met. We went from hating each other to just barely tolerating each other to being actual friends. And now, if I wasn't reading things wrong (and I rarely did)…

Well, it seemed like there was something more there.

He crossed the entire country to save Artemis – and to save me. I tried not to think of it that way, that he went all the way just for me. But something in the back of my mind wouldn't let me shake the idea that maybe, just maybe, he wanted to save me, first and foremost.

"Thank you," I whispered.

Percy met my eyes. "For what?" he asked. I stepped a little bit closer to him, wrapping him in a hug.

"For everything," I said into his ear. "For saving me. For not giving up. For believing," I took a deep shuddering breath, "for believing when no one else did that I was still alive, still fighting."

"Hey," he said, seeming a little startled. He hugged me tight, and I felt more content. "Hey, don't worry about it. I never for a second doubted that you were still with us."

"Really?" I asked, pulling away a little bit.

He nodded. "Of course." A grin spread across his face. "Plus, I knew that, if you did die, your first move would be to somehow become a ghost and haunt the hell out of me."

I laughed. "Okay," I said, "maybe that's a little true."

The song turned from slow and pensive to upbeat and happy. "Hey!" I said, recognizing the tune. "This is Lifehouse! I love this song!"

Percy turned to me. "You hear Lifehouse too?" he asked, looking puzzled.

I nodded. "Yeah," I replied. "What song do you hear?"

"First Time," he said.

My jaw dropped. "Same here," I said. "Aren't we all supposed to hear different music, matching what we want to hear?"

Percy shrugged. "Maybe our music tastes are in tune today?" He gave me a cheesy grin.

"That was the worst pun I'd ever heard."

He took my hands and started dancing like an idiot. "Come on, Wise Girl," he said. "Let's dance."

We starting singing along to the music, grinning the whole time

_I'm feeling alive all over again  
As deep as the sky that's under my skin  
Like being in love, she says, for the first time  
Maybe I'm wrong, I'm feeling right  
Where I belong with you tonight  
Like being in love to feel for the first time_


	60. Callie's First Monster: The Last Chapter

_A/N: Oh sweet Hades. I didn't write this author's note until I finished, because I wanted everything to be real. This is done. The last chapter. And…I will never be able to thank each and every one of you readers for being faithful to this story despite my tendency to forget to update. I love all of you so much and every review makes my heart skip a beat. Thank you all for every kind word, every review, every favorite, every alert. I adore writing, and you guys made me feel like what I was doing is worth it. It feels weird to know this is over, but I think it is a fitting time. Endings bring about beginnings and all that jazz. I have all of you to thank for the success this fic has gained. Again, thank you._

_This is set the latest of all of Illogical and Stupid, which I thought would be fitting for the final chapter. It's pretty fluffly : P_

_I can't wait to read Son of Neptune, and then bring you guys some more lovely Percabeth (and hopefully Rico) stories._

_So, for the last time my Illogical and Stupid readers, thank you._

_Read, review, but as always, I hope you enjoy the final chapter of Illogical and Stupid._

* * *

"Okay honey!" I called to Callie as she went to walk to the bus stop. "B-be safe! Don't let any of the big kids bully you at the bus stop! Remember to look both ways before – "

"Mommy – I mean, Mom!" said Callie, rolling her eyes. "I'm FINE. I'm seven years old now, I can walk to the bus stop on my own."

I sighed, and picked Malcolm up so he could wave goodbye to his big sister. "Say bye to Callie, Mal," I said.

"Bye, Cow!" he said, waving and grinning. I rolled my eyes.

"Malcolm, you are two years old, I think you're old enough to be able to pronounce your sister's name right. Try that again, please."

He sighed, taking after me with that look of indignant disapproval. "Bye, Cal!"

"Thank you, sweetie."

Callie walked to the bus stop, kicking a couple of rocks on her way and splashing in a couple of puddles, just like I had asked her not to.

She was SO Percy's daughter.

For a few seconds I heard her singing as she walked down the driveway, and then I turned around with my son in my arms and let her continue on her own.

It was Callie's last day of first grade. She'd been seven for six months now – she was nearly eight. It was about time I let her grow up a little and walk the quarter mile down to the bus stop on her own. Also, I could see her for the entirety of her walk there and as she stood at the stop, so I wasn't actually that nervous.

"Here, Malcolm," I said, setting him on the ground. "Go find Daddy and throw some mud in his face for me?"

He clapped his chubby little two-year-old hands together in front of me. "YAY!" he shouted, "go bug daddy!" He sprinted – well waddled, I guess – out our back door into our yard.

Percy had decided it was a great idea to build a fountain behind our house, because he wanted to become Mr. Fix-it and he was jealous that I was the one building a tree house for Callie and Malcolm. At least, that's my take on it. He just said that he got bored with working on the shed and decided on a new project.

Halfblood boys.

I grinned as I peered out the window at my boys out by the fountain. Malcolm had jumped onto Percy's back, and Percy hit his head on the ledge.

I didn't stop laughing until I got to the kitchen, when I brought out the baking materials for Percy so that he could make Malcolm breakfast when I went to dinner. He wasn't on duty that day at the fire department (his days off were rarely the weekends) so I was giving him breakfast duty. I had to get to work.

"I'm heading out, boys!" I called out the window as I grabbed my suitcase and my jacket. "I will see you two later!"

Stepping out the door, however, I dropped my suitcase and screamed. "PERCY GET OVER HERE NOW!"

Someone had found Callie. And I was simply going to have to cut a bitch.

As I was running, I hiked up my skirt to reveal the knife I kept strapped to me at all times. "GET AWAY FROM HER!" I shouted at the Scythian dracaena came toward my daughter. Then I got a little confused as I realized that Callie was doing pretty well on her own.

"Get away from me, you slimy faced freak!" she shouted, hitting her with a relatively large stick Callie must have found on the ground.

"Stay the hell away from my daughter!" shouted Percy. He sounded as if he was running right behind me.

"Go get her, Daddy!" said…

"You brought MALCOLM?" I shouted back to him.

"I had to!" replied Percy. "I wasn't going to leave him alone!"

I reached the monster and stepped between Callie and the dracaena. "Callie, stand behind me," I began, glaring at the monster who was hissing at me, "and when your father gets here, take Malcolm and get home quickly. We'll take care of this."

"Want my stick, Mommy?" she asked as I brandished my knife in the monster's face.

"No, honey," I said, a little exasperated. "Just go back with you –"

"You touch my family you are DONE!" shouted Percy, arriving behind me.

Percy and I strode up to the monster, him flashing Riptide dangerously.

"May I?" I asked, glaring.

"As you wish," said Percy.

The duel was maybe three seconds. She came toward me and I managed to take her out with a kick to the chest. Percy put a foot on her chest as she went to get up, and I kneeled next to her, and I had my knife at her throat in moments. "Now," I said, glaring down at her. "You have thirty seconds to explain why you are coming after our daughter. Go."

"She is the daughter," wheezed the dracaena, "of two of the most powerful half bloods in the world. She must be stopped."

"Who sent you?" I asked, glaring down at her.

"Who?" thundered Percy, Riptide joining my knife.

"Echidna has heard a prophecy," the dracaena said quietly, "of the one to defeat her for once and for all, to throw her to Tartarus with Kronos. Yours is the child."

Percy and I exchanged a terrified look. "She won't…"

"She can't!"

"That wouldn't…"

"It will," said the dracaena. A hideous grin spread across her face. "Now let me be."

"Not a chance," said Percy. We were showered with monster dust as Percy slashed the throat of the monster, and I was a little miffed at the state of my clothing.

"Does that count as yours or mine?" I asked. "Because I knocked her over but you killed her."

Percy shrugged. "No idea," he said, recapping Riptide. "But we might want to explain things to Callie."

"I'll call work and tell them I will not be there."

* * *

Percy parked the car in front of Thalia's Pine, and our family walked down to the Big House. Now it was painted a very bright yellow color, and I wasn't exactly sure if it was the right color choice, but hey, I didn't live at camp anymore.

"I swear," I said, striding down the hill. "I am going to kick Chiron's horsey butt for not telling us about this sooner. She's our DAUGHTER! We should probably be the first to find out that there's some prophecy about her."

Percy nodded, shifting Malcolm in his arms. "I'm actually kind of interested to hear it – maybe it could be reinterpreted?"

I nodded. "Yeah," I said, "reinterpreted. Totally. Maybe it's any daughter of two half bloods?"

Percy nodded like a bobble head. "Yeah, she's fine."

The two of us looked at Callie, doing somersaults down the hill and kicking off her shoes to do cartwheels in the grass.

"She's too young to have to deal with this," I muttered, half to myself.

Percy looked at me. "Hey, she's got us for parents. What could go wrong?"

"Do you really want an answer to that?" asked a tall, hulking man who came up to us with a grin on his face.

"Uncle Nicky!" shouted Malcolm, reaching his arms up to Nico. Percy laughed.

"Nicky!" said Percy. "Oh, man, calling you that forever now."

"Nee-coh," said Nico as he placed my son on his shoulders. "Nee-coh. Can you say that?"

"Nicky!"

Rachel popped up behind him, holding Callie's hand. "The name suits you, Nicky."

Nico rolled his eyes at her. "Oh shut up."

Percy and I turned to glare at Rachel. "Explain yourself," I said in a deadly tone.

"Now, please," said Percy in the same way.

Rachel's eyes widened. "Uh…Let's go to the Big House," she said, still holding Callie's hand. "Shall we?"

I nodded. "Rachel, my dear, you have some serious explaining to do."

The six of us made our way to the Big House, and Nico handed Malcolm to me as we walked in, as he couldn't clear the doorway with the toddler on his shoulders.

Sitting down at the table, Callie let go of Rachel's hand and climbed into Percy's lap. Nico let out a snort of laughter as she kneed Percy in the groin.

"Percy!" said Chiron. "Annabeth! And the kids," he said, waving to our children. "Nice to see you."

"Explain this prophecy, please," I said, not beating around the bush.

"I meant to call you two," said Rachel, dropping her head onto the table. "It happened LAST NIGHT! And I was –" she and Nico shared a look that did not make me comfortable. " – busy."

"Okay," said Percy, putting his hands over Callie's ears. "None of that, Rachel, keep this rated G."

"We weren't –"

"She CAN'T."

"Well, Nico, it's not my fault."

"I know, but –"

"And you two are shutting up now," I said, pressing my hands over Malcolm's ears. "How did Echidna find out?"

Chiron shrugged. "I honestly don't know. Some of the older monsters have a sixth sense when someone suggests they'll be murdered."

"More importantly," said Percy, holding Callie closer to him,"what did the prophecy say?"

Rachel and Chiron exchanged a look. "Um, actually," said Chiron. "You might want to wait for some of the people in here, um…"

Percy and I exchanged a look. "Hey, sweetie!" I said to Callie. "Want to go play with some of the fun kids here?"

"I'm little," she said in a whisper. "They don't like little kids."

"Who's 'they'?" Percy asked, confused.

"Big kids!"

"Actually," said Chiron. "There's someone here who you probably should meet." He walked out the front door and came back with a young girl next to him with a head of very dark, very thick black hair.

"Oh, this should be good," said Nico with a grin.

"So," said Chiron, "Percy, this is someone you probably would want to meet."

The girl looked up from where she was staring at her shoes, and the bright sea-green eyes startled me. They were the same as Malcolm's. And as Percy's.

"Hi," she said with a smile. "I'm Angela."

"Oh my god," said Percy, jaw dropping. "You're…"

"You're Percy, right?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. "I think you're my brother."

My eyes widened. Another new Poseidon child? Sure, there had been Brighton, who Percy found out about on his twenty first birthday, but a third?

"Yeah, I looked like that when I found out about who exactly my family was too," said Angela with a grin.

Callie shyly looked up from where she had buried herself in Percy's shirt. "Hi," she said softly. "You look like my daddy."

Angela and Percy exchanged a look, then laughed, the same exact tone, just in a different octave. "It's sort of hard to explain," said Angela. "But I've been told I might have babysitting duties?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. "How old are you?"

"Just turned thirteen a week ago," she said. "That's when I ended up here."

"Okay," I said, conceding. "Callie," I said, turning my little girl, "do you want to hang out with Angela? She can show you and Malcolm around."

"It'll be fun!" added Percy, shifting her so she had to stand up.

Callie looked from me to Percy to Angela, and then walked over to me and nodded. "Come, Malcolm," she said, heaving her brother off my lap. "Let's go play!"

You didn't need to tell Malcolm that twice. He always had quite the adorable reaction to the word "play." Before I knew it the three of them were going off out the door.

"Don't worry," said Chiron. "Any problems, Grover's outside somewhere with Juniper and his kids – he'll make sure everything's all right."

I nodded. "Now prophecy."

Rachel took a deep breath and began the prophecy, a perfect, practiced cadence,

"_The union of two who have saved the world,  
Will create a warrior quarter blood girl,  
The first of her kind will defeat the mother,  
Of the Chimera, with help from one other,  
The granddaughter of strategy, warrior brave,  
__The granddaughter of sea, the child of the saved."_

"That could be anyone," quipped Nico, kicking his feet up on the table.

Percy glared at him. "Shut up, Casper the Friendly Ghost. No kidding about my daughter."

Chiron put up a hand. Even though it had been nearly twenty years, all of us still shut up whenever he was about to talk. "She should be safe as long as you don't leave her alone," said Chiron. "No monster will mess with her when you two are around. We were wondering, though, if the two of you would like Callie to be the beta tester for children of demigods. There haven't been many, and Callie's the first child of a son of Poseidon in centuries, so we might need to figure out how to train her so she's protected."

I exchanged a glance with Percy. "Want to?" I asked, shrugging. "I mean, we need to make sure she's safe at all times, and that she knows how to protect herself."

Percy nodded. "But not overnight for more than a weekend. I am perfectly fine with driving for two hours to drop her off Friday and two hours to pick her up Sunday. I don't want my seven-year-old away from me the entire summer."

Every once in a while Percy would say something that made my heart swell. I had no idea how it happened, but he might just be the best father on the planet. Our children were lucky. "My feelings exactly," I replied. We turned back to Chiron. "We'll have to talk to her," I began, "but that sounds like a good idea."

Chiron had to discuss things with Mr. D, who at the moment was working on some of the grass in the field, but as of that moment it looked like that's how things were going to go.

Nico, Rachel, Percy and I all walked out of the Big House. "So," I said. "Now that all of that is over," I said. "What's new with you two?"

Rachel grinned and tapped her fingers against her chin. "Oh, I don't know," she said in a singsong tone. "We found a rat in our apartment, my dad bought a new car, Nico and I got engaged, Nico's dad made him –"

"YOU TWO GOT WHAT?" Percy and I shouted. The two of us tackled them with hugs. "That's wonderful!" I said.

Rachel grinned. "Yeah, it took some convincing, but Apollo finally agreed that as long as we kept the 'maiden' part of the deal, we'd be fine."

"And even that he said we could negotiate," said Nico with a lecherous wink.

"You are ridiculous," I said. "Absolutely ridiculous."

The four of us chatted for a little while, and then Rachel and Nico had to go work on "cleaning up the Hades cabin." Yeah right.

Percy turned to me and pressed a kiss to my temple. "So it looks like our little girl is going to be a monster killer after all," he said in a hushed tone.

I nodded and took his hand. "She'll be a member of Camp Half Blood, just like us."

Before I noticed where my feet were taking me, I realized that we had arrived at the dock where Percy and I had first kissed.

"That was one of the best days of my life," said Percy. Every once in a while it felt like Percy read my mind, like he knew exactly what I was thinking about. After all, I wasn't the hardet person to read. "After our wedding, and Callie and Malcolm's births and everything." He pressed a small kiss to my lips. "But that day is way up there."

I nodded. "For me, too."

We got distracted, lost in each other for a moment as we kissed, feeling the same thrill as I did when we kissed here the first time. When we broke away, Percy said, "You know, you lived up to your promise."

"What do you mean?"

He pulled me close to him. "You never have made things easy for me."

I laughed. "Well," I said, "I am a woman of my word."

He pulled me into the water again, and we fell to the center of the lake, kissing for the second time in an air bubble. Percy and I never were the normal couple, but what we are, were, and always will be is perfect together.


End file.
